Kuchiki Byakuya, who is he?
by blekmedelninjan
Summary: Faced with an impossible choice, the results of Byakuya's actions causes him to be stripped of his rank as captain, as well as his status as a nobleman. Who is Kuchiki Byakuya without these things? Drama/adventure, and a little romance. Eventual ByaRan.
1. The choice

Top of Form 1

Bottom of Form 1

Ok, so here goes... my first fanfic. I've been thinking of writing for a while, and finally, here it is. Enjoy, and don't flame. If you don't like it, try constructive criticism.

They came again. Wave after wave of hollows, varying from huge to adjuchas menos. Kuchiki Byakuya stoically directed the full force of his Ban Kai, tearing through the ranks of hollows with ease. Almost the entire 6th division, along with elements of the 4th and 7th, had been deployed on this beachhead in Hueco Mundo. There were three positions that the Gotei 13 had decided should be held, and this one was his responsibility. He found himself remembering the captains meeting when they had been informed of the soutaicho's decision to invade Hueco Mundo.

"As you all know", Yamamoto said, "we recently defeated Aizen Sosuke and his band of arrancar. His lieutenants were put to death, over half of his espada were slain in battle along with the majority of his normal arrancar. This cost us dearly. But the fact that an army of hollows could besiege the soul society, our very home, is unacceptable. Therefore, it is my decision as general commander to carry out a purge into the very heart of Hueco Mundo"  
"A purge?" It was the 10th scuad captain who spoke up.  
"Surely you can't mean..." came the voice of Kyoraku Shunsui, 8th division captain.  
"Yes!" said Yamamoto. "We will lead an army into Hueco Mundo, kill thousands of hollows, and mop up the remaining arrancar. Exterminating all hollows is impossible, but it is time they are taught their place"  
"Sounds like fun." said one Zaraki Kenpachi. "When do we start?

They had started two weeks later, the 11th, 6th and 1st divisions leading the charge, all of them supported by the other divisions. And here he was, killing menos-level hollows, holding the line. He could see the massive form of Renji's Hihio Zabimaru swing about, reaping a bloody tally among the neverending masses of hollows. (or it would have, but hollows don't bleed)

Then it happened. The kido-powered combat communications radio in his ear flickered to life, as he heard her cry out for help.

"This is Kuchiki Rukia of the 13th divisions support squad. My squadmates have been ambushed, and are all dead or worse. I am outnumbered and alone some twenty kilometres from battle position three. If anyone hears, this I'm in need of immediate- aargh!" Her voice was silenced by the roars of multiple hollows, and the radio went silent. Byakuya quickly thougt of his otions. He could quickly reach Rukia, but if he did so, his position would surely be overrunned- the force of his and Renji's Ban Kai were the only thing that held the line.

"I hate my life." Byakuya thought. "Why must it once again come down to my duty to Hisana or my duty to the seiretei?" With a frustrated grunt, Byakuya turned to his fukutaicho. "Renji. I must ask you to take care of things yourself. I have pressing matters to attend to"  
"Wait, taich-"  
But Byakuya was already gone, speeding towards Rukias position.

Rukia struggled to remain upright, and sode no shirayuki felt heavy to wield. She was facing a short, female arrancar, who had taken her time torturing her. Rukia had no doubt that if she had faced her when rested and healed, she could easily have taken her- she had defeated the nuveno espada, after all- but she was weak after hours of fighting, and she bled from what felt like a hundred cuts.  
Finally, the arrancar took a death-grip on her throat, obviously meaning to finish her.

"Look at you now, shingami." she taunted. "So weak. I think I'll take my time killing you. First I'll claw your face to a bloody mess, then I'll rip your arms to pieces, and to finish off, I think I will carve a message into your body with your own zanpakuto." She laughed evilly, filled with glee and anticipation. But just as she raised her hand Rukia heard the faintest of sounds. She was sure she imagined it, but it sounded like "Chire, zenbonsakura".

Suddenly, the female arrancars face exploded in a shower of blood, and she let go of Rukia. Rukia saw that the arrancar had lost an eye, and all of her face looked raw. Then, a flurry of pink, and the right arm went useless, cut to pieces, followed quickly by the demise of her left arm.

"I hope you don't mind, but I borrowed your ideas, arrancar." a cold voice called out. Rukia felt nothing but relief. Only her nii-sama spoke with such authoritarian calm.  
"I don't think i shall carve your body, however. I won't stoop to torture." Byakuuya spoke as he became visible, walking over a sand dune.  
"Damn you!" the arrancar cried. "I'll..." What she meant to do, we'll never know, for the next moment zenbonsakura took her head off.

"N-nii-sama..." Rukia stuttered.  
"Don't talk. We need to get you some medical attention, quickly." Byakuya said, calm as ever.  
And in a flash, he was gone, carrying Rukia to safety.

As Byakuya approached the 6th divisions battle position, his fears were made whole. The ground had become littered with the bodies of dead shinigami in the time he was gone. Currently, there were no hollows to be seen, but he knew that before long, they would return.

"Taicho, where the hell have you been!" Renji's angry voice called out. "We are fighting a losing battle cuz' you left! What... oh." His voice went quiet as he saw the limp form of Rukia in his arms.  
"Get a seated officer from 4th, now!" Byakuya commanded. "Hai!" Renji responded.  
Once that had been taken care of, Byakuya turned to Renji.  
"Abarai. Damage report"  
"We have lost at least half of our forces, all of them seated officers. Right now, the hollows have pulled back, but they'll be back soon"  
"When can we expect reinforcements?"  
"Not soon enough."  
"I see. It is lost then. Have any unijured, high-ranking officer evacute our forces through the gateway. We will hold them back until everyone is safe"  
"But, taicho... that would mean accepting defeat. We could still fight."  
"Renji, we are beat. If we stay, our defeat is not a matter of how, but when. What is the status of battle positions one and two?"  
"Last update says that 1st and 11th are succesfully holding position."  
"Good." activating his combat communications radio, Byakuya spoke out: "This is battle station three's captain, Kuchiki Byakuya. Battle position three is falling. Evacutaing all surviving soldiers. Kuchiki out."

Three days later, Byakuya found himself staring back at the Kuchiki elder council. His actions had been deemed "shameful", and Byakuya could only agree.  
"Kuchiki Byakuya" the elder spokesman began. "Do you realize how much your actions have shamed the honorable house of Kuchiki, the foremost of all nouble houses, most prestigous of all?" At this, several angry elders spoke their mind, most unpleased with him.  
"I am aware. There is no need to lecture me on honour. I knew what I was doing, and I would do it again."  
"I see. Why did you fail to uphold the honor of your house? Why did you abandon your post in the heat of battle?" At this, several elders let their discontent be heard once more.  
"I was torn between my oath to my late wife and my oath to the Kuchiki clan and the seiretei. I chose one of them."  
"I see. If this was a first, then we could overlook it, but you have betrayed the rules before. We must take disciplinary action, I'm afraid."  
"What are you talking about?" Byakuya sneered. "Like it or not, I'm the clan head. You have no power over me!"  
"Not quite, Byakuya-sama. The clan laws state that if the elder council agrees completely, a clan head can be de-throned."  
Here, Byakuya felt, he stood at a crossroads. He could kill an elder, crush his oppositon and rule his clan with the iron hand of a tyrant. Or, he could accept being demoted. The first sounded tempting, but he knew he was no murderer. He would no longer be clan head.  
"Furthermore", the elder continued, "You may consider yourself suspended from nobility. You may keep your name for now, and there is a fund containing all the money you've earned as a captain. That is all. And, oh, the soutaicho has summoned you."

Byakuya felt as if he was falling into an abyss. He was no longer clan head. In actuality, he was not even noble anymore. Slowly, he made his way to the soutaichos office.

"You wished to see me, Yamamoto-sama"  
The ancient soutaicho turned to face him. "This is about your actions in Hueco Mundo. You abandoned your post and caused us to lose an important position, and the lives of many shinigami. Normally this would cause some form of disciplinary action, but but your record is almost flawless. But for some reason, the Kuchiki are using every ounce of their political power to put pressure on me. I regret to inform you that I have no choice but to strip you of your rank as captain"  
"Wha...?" was all Byakuya could get out.  
"I would guess someone is out to seize your power as head, and that someone wants you out of the way. This was most convenient, don't you think? Worry not, Byakuya. I shall try to reinstate you as soon as possible"  
"Wha..." said a still dumbstruck Byakuya.

He did not know how he got out of Yamamotos office he couldn't remember. He never did, really. Suddenly he just stood there, in the street.

"I'm not the Kuchiki clan head. I'm not a captain." he thought to himself. "Who am I, really?"

A/N: End chapter one. Read and review. New chapter soon.


	2. A short term solution

Chapter two up.

I forgot a disclaimer in the first chapter, so here goes: Unless Tite Kubo turned Swedish, I do not own Bleach.

Ichigo was sitting in his classroom. Until half a minute ago, he had been doing well in his English class. Then, he had felt a strange chill run down the back of his neck, and in an instant, the entire classroom had frozen still. Not Toshiro-encase-you-in-ice frozen, everybody had just became still. Perfectly still. And now, he was in the corridor, talking to the only person he knew that looked kind and intimidating at the same time: Unohana Retsu, the yonbantai taicho.

"Whadda ya want?" Ichigo asked in a slightly annoyed tone.  
"The seiretei has needs of your services." Unohana replied in her normal, gentle voice. "I assume you've heard of the Hueco Mundo invasion?"  
"Urahara told me all about it. But since the soul society no longer is in danger, I figured it's none of my business if you want to war some more."  
"We figured you might feel that way." Unohana said. "But we're not asking you to do this out of charity."  
"Look, I can't afford to fall behind even more in school. And if you guys want war, it's your problem." Ichigo said, now visibly annoyed.  
"We would pay you to fight for us. As I said, no charity."  
"Your money is useless in the world of the living, remember?" Ichigo countered.  
"We do have a minor corporation in this world, which funds our operations here."  
Unohana scribbled something on a piece of paper, and handed it to Ichigo.  
"This is the amount of money we're offering. And with each hollow you slay for us, that number will grow."  
Ichigo raised an eyebrow. It was a lot of money. Definitely something that would help his economical future greatly.  
"Sorry, but if I am absent from school any more, I'll be expelled."  
"We have ways around that, you know." Unohana countered.  
That was true. They did have some rather potent memory-warping tools, enough to keep him from getting expelled.  
"What about learning?" He asked. "I do need to learn, and I need to pass my tests."  
"We can do that too. 12th have developed some really useful learning devices."  
"Aha!" Ichigo said, confident he had found the argument that would have the seiretei leave him alone. "I have hollow powers. You guys know that. You wouldn't want the big bad vizard to work for you, would you?" Ichigo smiled triumphantly.  
"There was an investigation, and you were deemed as "not a threat", Ichigo." Unohana said, completely disarming his final argument.  
"I guess I could work as a mercenary, then." he said. "Out of curiosity, what if you had thought I was a threat?"  
"The 2n division would have eliminated you" said Unohana, still smiling. "We'll pick you up tomorrow at noon."

And with that, she disappeared into a gateway back to the soul society.  
"Well" Ichigo thought, "at least this time I'll be making money."

(A/N: Ichigo is recruited the day after Byakuyas failure. Byakuya receives judgement three days after his failure. Continuity is a bitch)

As Byakuya left the Soutaicho's office building, he struggled to find some sort of emotion to apply to this odd, appalling situation. Perhaps he ought to feel angry? Or sad? Depressed? But right now, when his exalted position as captain and nobleman only had been taken away minutes ago, he felt only empty.  
He also felt he needed to do something, or his head would explode.  
He no longer wore the kenseikan, or his precious scarf. He did not wear his captain's haori- it had been left with the soutaicho- and he found that without them, he felt... naked.

Somehow, his feet brought him to the sixth division. It was the one familiar thing to him right now. He might have been stripped of his rank, but he was still a member of the 6th. Amidst the turmoil inside his head, at least this was reassuring.  
As he walked, he found that he had no idea what to do. He spotted a new, unseated shinigami passing by.

"You there." Byakuya addressed the shinigami.  
"T-taicho" the recruit stuttered, awed by his presence.  
"If you had found out that you had been fired and everything you ever fought for had been taken away, what would you do?" Byakuya asked, still incapable of thinking up anything of his own.  
"Y-you're not firing me, are you, sir?" the recruit replied nervously.  
"No. I do not have that kind of authority, anyway. Now please answer my question."  
"I guess I'd go out fer a drink." the recruit said.  
Alcohol. Yes. That seemed like a simple, short term solution. Byakuya had never indulged in sake or the likes of it so far, and he had never been drunk, but now seemed a good time.

"Where's the closest bar?" he asked.  
"Umm, just down street. Why, taicho, are you all right?"  
Not paying the unseated shinigami any more attention, Byakuya turned towards the indicated direction.

The bar didn't really look the way he imagined it would. It was clean, and the people inside seemed sober, for the most part. Of course, as a noble, he could never have gone to a bar, associating with commoners would have been below his dignity.  
But things were different now. Walking up to the barkeep, Byakuya said:  
"You serve sake here, right?"  
The bartender, obviously not recognizing him, said: "Ain't you a smart one. What was your first clue?"  
"Just give me ten bottles of sake, to start with. And keep them coming."  
The bartenders surly look lightened significantly when Byakuya showed him his wallet, thick with money, and soon he sat at a table with all the sake he could drink before him. And thus, Byakuya started his first drinking binge.

Ichigo was in a good mood. After two days of intense fighting, he, Renji, and the 6th division had retaken the third battle position. They had entrenched themselves, and thanks to his ban kai, any hollow army within his range had been destroyed. And because of his hard work, he had been given a day off after two days, a day which he meant to spend with Rukia, who just had gotten out of the 4th division. Personally, Ichigo suspected that his free time had as much to do with his hollow's mask as his fighting power, since the 6th division members didn't seem too happy about being bossed around by a shingami-hollow hybrid.  
Nevertheless, free time was good, and he was going to make the most of it.  
As he and Rukia passed the 6th divisions local sake-and-sushi bar, Ichigo heard a loud, slurring voice. A somewhat familiar voice. If he didn't know better, he could have sworn it was Byakuyas voice. He told Rukia as much.

"Idiot." Rukia said, elbowing him in the gut. "Nii-sama would never set foot in such a lowly establishment!"  
"Still, it sounds a lot like him..." Ichigo said, stepping into the bar.

And lo, it WAS Byakuya. A very drunk Byakuya, too. There were plenty of empty bottles around him, and several more still not drunk.  
A bystander noticing Ichigos expression would have been amused. Ichigos jaw had practically dropped to the floor, and his eyes were the size of plates.  
But that same bystander would have been less amused by Rukias expression. Her face was a mixture of disbelief and horror. The both of them would probably have backed out of the bar and pretended they didn't see him (or at least Ichigo would, set as he was to enjoy his day off) but Byakuya turned and noticed them before they could.

"Well, if it ain't Isshigo an' Rukia" Byakuya slurred. "Have a seat, will ya?"  
"N-nii-sama" Rukia stuttered. "What's wrong?"  
"Ain't ´nii-sama´ anymore. Ain't even noble."  
"What are you talking about?" Ichigo said.  
"Tole ya. Ain't noble annemore. So I decided ta have a drink."  
"Or a hundred." Ichigo noted. "What's this all about, anyway?"  
"Nii-sama lost his battle station because of me." Rukia almost whispered. "And now he's been cast out. It's all my fault."  
"Hey!" Byakuya said angrily. "Ain't sorry I did it. T'was my choice, see. But ya can't  
call me nii-sama anemore. Wouldn't be right."  
"You're still my brother, aren't you?" Rukia asked. She looked like she was about to cry.  
Catching on to the violent gestures Ichigo was making behind Rukias back, he answered.  
"O' course I am yer brother. But now, I have ta call ya ´Nee-sama´. Heh. Hehehe."  
Byakuya chuckled, for some reason amused by the fact that Rukia was above him in status.  
"Well, here goes my day off, I just know it." Ichigo thought.  
"Alright, let's get you out of here. We can't leave you here, right Rukia?"  
"Yes." Rukia said meekly.  
And with that, Ichigo flung Byakuya over his shoulder and walked towards the 6th divisions quarters.

When Byakuya woke up, the first thing he noticed was the pain. He had been cut, stabbed, slashed and almost killed many times, but none of that could have prepared him fot this. His head felt as if someone had continuously bashed it with a sledhehammer, and his mouth tasted like vomit, alcohol and gall. He just wanted to die.  
When he had gathered his wits, he realized that he must be suffering from a hangover. He had had headaches before, but this was a thousand times worse.  
Sometime later, he inspected his surroundings. This had to be the 4th division, he recognized the room. To his left, he saw a small table with a glass of water, some sort of pill and a note, which said: "When you wake up, take this, or suffer like you've never suffered before. Without hesitation, he took the pill. Anything was better than this.

"He WHAT?" Ichigo said.  
"Apparently, nii-sama has been fired and cast out at the same day." Rukia said.  
"What a load of bull."  
"It's terrible."  
"Well, isn't it going overboard, just firing him like that? I'm going to look into this."  
And with that, Ichigos day off was completely ruined.

Please read and review. It is appreciated.


	3. Turning things around

Here's third chapter, for the few of you that actually read this. I'd like to thank all of you who have reviewed and/or favourited my story. It is greatly appreciated.

I do not own Bleach, Kubo-sensei does.

The next few weeks (or months, Byakuya couldn't tell) passed in a drunken haze. He became a frequent visitor of the rukongai, and only returned to the seiretei as much as was required to retain his status as a shinigami. (Though, in fact, his behaviour and attitude would have gotten him fired were it not for the protecting hand of the General Commander. Had Yamamoto known exactly what he was doing, he might not have been all that eager to help.) In the rukongai, he learned a number of things. He learned he had a surprisingly high alcohol tolerance- not that that was any comfort to him. He also learned just how hated shinigami were outside the seiretei, which was much less than he'd expected. Though he was forced to deal with various thugs and such on a regular basis, he was actually pitied rather than resented by the inhabitants of whatever district it was he liked to spend time in. He also learned that chasing away thugs from the local bars would earn him major discounts on the sake, which was practically the only thing he drank these days.  
He was never sober anymore, only varying degrees of drunk. Because it was only when he was thoroughly smashed that he could completely repress the memories of his former life. And even then, he would see faces. The face of a bald and bearded man in a haori, the face of an obnoxious, rude, orange-haired shinigami, and the face of a girl with black hair and a sad look on her face. It was usually about then that he would pass out, or at least do his best to.

He learned not to pass out in alleys or gutters after a while. Once, he had woken with a killer hangover and a score of vicious thugs just waiting for him to come about, just so they could give him a beating. He had gotten away with a few broken ribs that time, but the only reason he got away was the release of his zanpakuto. The fact that he had been forced to use it against such scum had sent him into a spiral disgust and self-pity, which in turn led to more drinking. Yes, the last two months of this story certainly wasn't the best of times for the once-glorious former 6th captain. Meanwhile, the war raged on, mostly in the favour of the soul society, the number of arrancar slowly dwindling. But Byakuya wouldn't know. When Kenpachi beat four powerful arrancar to a bloody pulp, he was trying to deal with a hangover. When Renji and Ichigo took on two thousand adjuchas and emerged victorious, but bloodied, he was getting drunk at a cheap bar. When the soutaicho released his sword and annihilated an uncountable amount of hollows, which swarmed from one horizon to the other, Byakuya was busy beating up a petty crime lord. And no one knew where to find him. Byakuya was hiding, that much was sure.

It had been over a month of endless Ban kai, blood, and the clouds which followed for dramatic effect, but the tides had finally turned enough for Ichigo to get some time off. Though he'd much rather have a picnic with Rukia (who seemed incapable of keeping herself out of harms way- she had been sent back to the 4th division for emergency care only a few days after re-entering the battlefield, and only just now were fit to walk around again), her worries over her idiot brother kept them both from enjoying even such a simple pleasure. And since Ichigo had said he would look into the whole Byakuya matter, they were now walking lazily towards the Kuchiki manor. They had already asked the general commander, who happened to be back for the briefest of times to oversee the progress of the various divisions whose captains and lieutenants were busy with the war, but he had told Ichigo to shut up, mind his own business and remember who was paying him.  
As they walked towards the entrance, the guards moved to stop Ichigo, but returned to their posts when they saw who he was with.

"Hey, how high up are you in the family?" Ichigo asked.  
"What do you mean?" Rukia replied.  
"I'm asking, how important are you? Are there any special archives or something we can access because of your status?"  
"I'm not that important" Rukia said, but continued with a little pride: "of course, being nii-samas only sister gives me a certain status. But I hardly think we could access any data of importance. Besides, what good would that do?"  
"Got any better ideas?"  
"…fine."  
Said and done, the two of them started to read a little about Kuchiki history. After reading various scrolls for a while, Ichigo looked up and turned to Rukia.  
"This isn't working. I won't understand squat unless I have some structure to understand."  
"OK, I'll explain." Rukia said. "The Kuchiki clan, as well as all noble houses have one absolute leader, as well as a second, which stands ready to assume leadership should the leader unexpectedly die. The only ones above the clan leader are the elder council."  
"Who are they? How many?"  
"We don't know for sure, but it's generally assumed to be the eight wisest Kuchiki. Only they have the power to demote really high-ranking nobles, though it's almost unheard of for them do de-throne a leader."  
"So, who are they?"  
"Well, it is nii-samas two uncles, and then a number of elderly Kuchiki from the various branches."  
"Branches?"  
"Naturally, a house as large as ours is composed of many families, most of which have a certain ceremonial duty assigned to them."  
"But wouldn't that mean separation?"  
"It is the leader's job to keep the house unified. If he is strong, any ambitious noble is cowered into submission. If not, we have us a weak, squabbling family."  
"Do you think someone might have wanted Byakuyas position and used this against him?"  
Rukia looked a little puzzled at this. "It's possible, but that would mean that several elders would have been conspiring against him. I find that hard to believe."  
"Well, it says here"- at this, Ichigo pointed to the scroll he had been reading- "that when the last Kuchiki leader stepped down, there was a choice between Byakuya and his next cousin for clan head, and when your brother won, the father of the loser, one Kuchiki Kazuna, was not happy. Is he an elder?"  
"…Yes." Rukia replied.  
"That's something at least. Let's go find Byakuya."

That proved to be easier said than done, though. They easily concluded that he was not to be found in the seiretei, and one of the 6th division members told them that he usually could be found in the 68th rukongai district. But when they got there, they realized one thing: it was huge. And the dislike people held for shinigami as well as nobles didn't make searching easier. At long last, however, after five minutes of searching (or five hours, whichever seems more plausible) they got a lead from a sleazy barman at an equally sleazy bar. Apparently there was a shed that Byakuya usually slept at, and after some threats and the parting of a few coins, they were given a description of the way there.

Byakuya was in a sorry state when they found him. He had neglected shaving the last month, leaving him with half an inch of facial hair. His clothes smelled like vomit and cheap alcohol and his eyes had dark rings. In short, he looked more like your everyday drifter than a shinigami. In fact, the only thing reminding them that he was one was his sword, which still hung by his side. Ichigo wasn't sure what to do, but it obviously had to be him. Rukia was far too mortified at the sight of her brother to do anything. So, for the lack of a better thing, he walked over to Byakuya and kicked him. When nothing happened, he kicked a little harder. Finally, Byakuya stirred, getting to his feet.

"Geddof me. Leave me alone." He said.  
"Get up, you useless drunk." Ichigo said. While he wasn't exactly mortified, he was still pissed that he would degrade himself so.  
"Who're you callin' useless, punk?"  
"Look at yourself, Byakuya. You used to be the finest example of a shinigami. Now, you're nothing but trash. Get your act together!"  
"Watch your tongue, substitute." Byakuya hissed.  
"Why don't you stop being such a selfish bastard, Byakuya? There are people who care about you!"  
"Yeah? Like who?"  
"Like her for an example." Ichigo pointed at Rukia. "Your sister. Your late wife's sister. Who you gave everything to protect. Are you just gonna make that meaningless by rotting away in the slums as a drunk? "  
"Kuchiki Byakuya is dead." He replied in a dull tone.  
"Yeah, that's probably right. The Byakuya I knew wouldn't roll over like a coward. You're not fit to call yourself a shinigami, or even a man. You're weak!"

Out of nowhere, Byakuyas fist connected with Ichigos cheek, followed by a knee to his nose. Ichigo was sent flying back.  
"You self-righteous punk!" Byakuya was enraged. "What right do you have to preach to me? You have no right to speak of my wife, or my duties. What the hell do you know? I lost everything. EVERYTHING!"  
Pulling out his sword, he uttered one word of command: "Chire". A thousand petals scattered and made their way towards Ichigo, where they nested around his neck, like a collar.  
"Say it" he taunted "say Ban kai. I dare you."  
Ichigo was still seeing stars from that first hit. Byakuya had a surprisingly hard fist. But that wasn't what was on his mind, the thousand blades around his neck were.

"Nii-sama, please stop." Rukia cut in.  
"Nee- sama?" Byakuya turned towards her.  
"Ichigo was very rude… but he is right. I hate to see you like this."  
"He was right, huh?" Byakuya said, his voice trembling with rage.  
"Yes."

Byakuya sealed and sheathed his zanpakuto, and turned and began to walk towards the seiretei. "I'll show him!" he said aloud. He'd show them all. He'd make the Kuchiki rue the day he was born, or better yet, the day each and every one of them were born.  
That Kurosaki boy might be an obnoxious fool, but he had been right about this.

All right. New chapter when i have a few more reviews, please?


	4. Getting back into the action

Roughly one day, five hours, seventeen minutes and fifty-two seconds later, Yamamoto-Shigekuni Genryuusai, General Commander of the seiretei, and the oldest, most powerful shinigami in existence, was quietly enjoying his morning tea. This simple pleasure of his was abruptly interrupted as the doors to his office were slammed open by Kuchiki Byakuya.  
While he didn't look the picture of refinement and elegance (and he hadn't since his disgrace), he looked much less unkempt and filthy. He didn't reek of alcohol and vomit, and he had seemingly even attempted a shave, albeit a rather half-assed one.

"Yamamoto-sama, I demand a seat in the 6th division, and I won't take no for an answer!" Byakuya stated, slamming his fist into his desk.  
Yamamoto quietly finished the last of his tea, and then looked up at the former 6th division captain.  
"Very well. What seat would you like?"  
"When I said I wouldn't take no for an answer, I meant it!" Byakuya continued. "I don't care if I have to stay here for months; I'm not leaving until… wait, what?"  
Byakuya had obviously expected to fight for a position, and was dumbstruck at the soutaicho's compliance. Though he didn't show it, Yamamoto found the expression on his face quite amusing.  
"What do you mean 'what seat do you want?' Don't you have all this pressure from my family not to help me?"  
"If I said 'no, you cannot have a seat', would that satisfy you?" Yamamoto said, with a hint of sarcasm.  
"I… I just never thought it would be so easy."  
"Let me make one thing clear: I am on your side in this, Byakuya. Your former family overstepped themselves when they pressured me into demoting you. They have overstepped themselves a lot of late. Did you know that Kuchiki Kazuna-dono of the elders suggested one his second son for captainship of the 6th division? Very strongly, too. Do you feel he is fit to fill your shoes?"  
"What?"  
"You heard me. They now think they can decide on who is and isn't captain."  
Byakuya knew of Kazuna's second son, Keio. He wasn't incompetent, but his skills were far from enough to fulfil the duties of a captain.  
Yamamoto spoke again: "It is time the Kuchiki are shown their place. I intend to use you, and your situation, towards that end." He bent down over his desk, and signed a document. "You are now 15th seat Byakuya of the 6th division."  
Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "15th seat?"  
"Consider the irony. A genius of unsurpassed skill, placed in a ridiculously low position. That ought to earn you some sympathy."  
"Very well. When will I be redeployed to the battlefield?"  
Yamamoto walked over to a battle map depicting the three stations, and the enemies approaching it. Upon his command, the map shrunk to show the third battle station. It was well entrenched, but in the vicinity a large amount of enemies had gathered.  
"As we speak, a huge army of hollows, led by half a dozen arrancar, are making their way to battle station three. It is likely that this will be the defining point of this war; whoever wins the battle will hold an advantage in the rest of this war." Yamamoto said.  
"Who leads them?"  
"None other than Grimmjow Jaegerjaques. Apparently, he has a score to settle with our mercenary vizard."  
"That's an espada. I'll leave immediately. Most likely, my help will be needed."  
"No!" The authority with which the soutaicho spoke brooked no disagreement. "You go when I order you."

The fighting was fierce. The moment the armies had clashed, zanpakuto versus claws and teeth, Ichigo had found himself dragged into a one-on-one duel with a vengeful Grimmjow, taking the power of his ban kai out of the fight and leaving Renji with five arrancar. The rank-and-file shinigami, as well as the highly seated officers, were taking heavy casualties, and returned the favour with a vengeance. It was brutal. But after two hours or so of fighting, the overwhelming numbers of the menos were starting to tell. Renji had already disposed of two arrancar, in spite of their releases. Now, he was fighting a losing battle against three arrancar that, on a normal day, would have died faster than you can say "hihio zabimaru". But now, Renji was tired, and had lost a lot of blood. He was dying. He was awaiting the coup de grace with closed eyes, but it never came. As he dared open his eyes, the arrancar closest to him was one head shorter. The one next to him had been struck in the chest by a fully charged soren sokatsui, and the third was desperately struggling to escape a tide of pink

"Have you gotten weaker, Renji?" If the arrogance in the voice that spoke didn't give him away, then the endless waves of sakura blades did. An endless tide of pink swept across the battlefield, almost instantly annihilating more than half of the hollows charging at the battle station. The troopers who could still fight gave a cheer, and charged into the fight with renewed vigour, ever supported by Byakuyas senbonzakura. Finally, Grimmjow was cast down by Ichigo. The loss of their general as well as the overwhelming casualties was too much, and the hollows were routed, fleeing in panic.

"About time you came back." Ichigo said.  
"Have you gained no strength?" Byakuya said, harshly. "What took you so long, finishing that espada? He didn't even die!"  
Ichigo was about to say something harsh in turn, but was cut off by Renji.  
"You're back. And you saved the day, too. Thank you, taicho."  
"Not quite." Byakuya cut him off. "Rokubantai juugoseki, Kuchiki Byakuya, at your service, Abarai-fukutaicho."  
Renji looked at him with disbelief. "They made you 15th seat? I don't believe it!"  
"They made me 15th seat. Believe it!"  
Byakuya turned away and began walking towards the desert.  
"Where are you going?" Renji demanded.  
"Both you and Kurosaki are exhausted. I am perfectly rested. Therefore, I alone will hunt down the remaining hollows, as well as any remaining arrancar. The two of you would do well to stay here, rest and regain your strength."  
"You are staying here. We need your strength as well. I hate to remind you, but right now, I outrank you. Don't make me order you to stay here."  
Out of nowhere, Byakuya flash stepped and punched the bloodied fukutaicho in the gut. Hard.  
Renji went down like sack of potatoes.  
"Would you look at that." Byakuya said loudly. "Abarai-fukutaicho just fainted from blood loss. You'd better get a healer here. Anyone want to stop me? No? Thought so."  
"Don't be reckless, Byakuya." Ichigo said, while trying to stand using zangetsu as a crutch.  
"I know what I'm doing."  
"Just be careful. You are likely walking into an ambush."  
Byakuya didn't listen, and flashed away toward the nearest group of hollows.

A few hours later, Byakuya wondered if he shouldn't have paid that Kurosaki boy more attention. It had not taken long for him to find the routed army, and he had cut into them with reckless abandon. By now, they were all pretty much exterminated, but he was tired and wounded. Nothing major, but there had to be a hundred small cuts, and it all added up to quite some damage. He had sensed the presence of a few arrancar lying in wait, so he had decided to save the power of ban kai for later, using shikai and kido to do the necessary amount of damage. With a slash from his sword, he shattered the mask of the last adjuchas. He then turned towards a dune of sand, and cried out:  
"I know you're there. Come out and face me, arrancar."  
He heard the all too familiar buzz of sonido, and a tall, lean woman appeared before him.  
"Oh? You're not going to come at me all at once?" Byakuya said.  
"Oh no. I wouldn't want anyone else to claim the glory of killing you." The arrancar replied in a soft, harmonious voice.  
"You seem very confident. Are you the strongest of your little group?"  
"I, the great Nina-sama, am only the second strongest. But leader-sama let me fight you alone. She is kind and generous like that. Now, why don't you introduce yourself?"  
"Kuchiki Byakuya, 6th division."  
"Aren't I lucky!" Nina cried. "You killed Zommari-sama! I can't wait to fight you!"  
"Don't get excited, arrancar." Byakuya replied calmly. "If you are the only one opposing me, this will all be over before you can blink. You are hardly espada level."  
"Yes-s, but you are tired and wounded. If you unleash your sword, I think we'll fight even. Come on, do it!"  
"No. I give up." Byakuya said, and dropped senbonzakura to the ground.  
The look on the arrancar's face was priceless.  
"Only kidding. Chire, senbonzakura kageyoshi." The oh so familiar alley of blades appeared behind Byakuya, scattering into an uncountable number of tiny blades.  
"Ah, what a joker! So funny!" she exclaimed. "Are you ready, then?"  
"Not quite. Senkei!" A large black dome, covered with swords, surrounded them both.

Meanwhile, Renji and Ichigo were overseeing the arrival of reinforcements and supplies.  
"Why didn't you try to stop him, Ichigo?" Renji scolded.  
"It's not like I could have if I wanted to. Besides, he is probably fine. He has a lot of skill, you know."

Byakuya didn't really understand the arrancar he was fighting. He was in the second stage of his ban kai, and she had only drawn her blade, remaining on the defensive. He had drawn blood several times, and she hadn't even cried out in pain. As he went in for a killing strike, she finally parried.  
"That's enough. Wail, Otohime!"

Byakuya jumped back as she released her sword, his blade held at the ready. As the dust cleared, he saw a distinct change in the arrancar. Her entire body was covered in a ghostly white suit of armour, her head was encased in a green sort of helmet and she was holding a strange weapon. It looked like twos swords welded together, with the handle in the middle- a twin-bladed spear. Her wounds remained, but they were knitting together quickly, and she bled no more.

Not waiting for her attack, Byakuya charged. She parried, and they locked their blades together. A second or two later, Byakuya began to feel sick. It got worse, quickly. His sight became dizzy, his legs were trembling and he wanted to throw up. To his surprise, he found that just standing took immense effort.  
"Otohime is my executioner. She rules all sound. Right now, various vibrations are running through your body, making you sick, attacking your intestines and your brain." Nina said with some degree of pride.  
She took a step backwards, and Byakuya lost his balance. He fell forwards, and as he did, she rammed a blade into his gut. Byakuya fell to the ground, dying.

The world went gray, as it had before when he had conversed with his zanpakuto, but this was different. As he hit the ground, a hollow, deep voice spoke to him:  
"HELLO, KUCHIKI BYAKUYA."


	5. A choice?

All right. Before we begin, I'd like to thank my reviewers. It means a lot as a writer new to the writing of fanfiction to get reviews, and therefore my thanks go out to:

oo Takeshi oo, Byakuya 117, anonymous lilangel and especially Akeline, who has reviewed several times. Thank you!

Also, I'm sorry it's been a while since I updated- university studies are a bitch. I will update more often during the winter.

As Byakuya tried to look up on whoever was speaking, he found he was no longer in pain. He checked his wound. No more bleeding, either. He slowly eased himself into a sitting position.  
"You're not senbonzakura, are you?" he said, turning to the speaker, an ominous, hooded figure.  
"NO. TAKE A LOOK AT ME AND GUESS WHO I AM." the figure said, rising to its full height.  
He wore a long robe reaching to his feet, which was so dark it seemed to be woven out of shadows. He was not taller than Byakuya, yet he seemed to tower over him. In one skeletal hand, he held a scythe, from where an hourglass dangled. He had no human face, but a skull instead. His eyes were a glowing blue light.  
"A skeleton with a scythe. You aren't going to tell me you are Death, with a capital D?" Byakuya said, now sure he was hallucinating.  
"PLEASED TO MEET YOU."  
"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me." Byakuya muttered. "I am a shinigami. I guide lost souls to the next life. Why should I even acknowledge your existence?"  
"YOU ARE ONE OF MANY MEANS TO PROTECT THE SOULS OF THE LIVING. BUT YOU SAFEGUARD NOT ALL THE WORLD. THAT IS, ULTIMATELY, MY JOB." Death said, taking a seat at pile of sand.  
"Fine. So what do you want with me? Is this where I die?"  
Death, upon his words, pulled up a dusty old tome from out the spaces of his cloak. How he had been able to fit it there, Byakuya would never understand, for it was huge, bordering on gigantic. On its front, Byakuya could make out the title: Book Of Fates.  
"THIS", the figure said, "HOLDS THE FATE OF EVERY SELF-AWARE BEING, BE HE HOLLOW, SHINIGAMI, HUMAN OR DEMON, WITH A 98.2 PER CENT ACCURACY RATE."  
"I never believed in fatalism." Byakuya responded weakly.  
"QUITE RIGHTLY. THE BOOK IS MORE OF AN EXTREMELY ADVANCED COMPUTER CAPABLE OF EXTREMELY ACCURATE PREDICTIONS THAN AN ABSOLUTE FATE-FORETELLER. IT'S JUST THAT 'BOOK OF FATES' HAS A BETTER RING TO IT THAN 'BOOK OF EXTREMELY ACCURATE PREDICTIONS"  
"What are you getting at?" Byakuya asked. "If I'm going to die, then I'd like to pass on without a lot of boring speeches."  
Death ignored him, and continued:  
"YOUR CASE IS INTERESTING. HEAR WHAT THE BOOK HAS TO SAY OF YOUR FATE."  
As he spoke, his voice grew softer by a little.  
"Kuchiki Byakuya. Dies three-hundred and fourteen years from now in combat, after leading a fulfilling and relatively happy life. His memory is revered by his clan as well as the Seireitei as a hero of unsurpassed measure, and he is missed and mourned by his sister, his loving wife and his three children. He remains unsurpassed as a clan head for well over a thousand years."  
"What? That is nowhere near where I am headed. Wasn't that book 99,9 per cent accurate or something?"  
"THAT IS WHAT MAKES YOUR CASE INTERESTING. YOUR FATE HAS BEEN ALTERED, AND THEREFORE, THE BOOK HAS YET TO DETERMINE YOUR TIME OF DEATH." Death said, his voice once again deep and hollow.  
"So what now?"  
"AS A DEITY WITH COSMICAL POWERS, AND THE ULTIMATE JUDGE OF LIFE AND DEATH, I HAVE DECIDED TO PRESENT YOU WITH A CHOICE."  
"What kind of choice is it?" Byakuya asked, at once eager and scared.  
"WHETHER TO LIVE OR DIE." There was a finality to his words that ran chills down his spine (even more so than before).  
"What?"  
"IT IS SIMPLE. DO YOU WANT TO LIVE, OR TO DIE, FREED FROM ALL THE TROUBLES OF LIFE, ON YOUR WAY TO REINCARNATION?"

Byakuya went into deep thought for a few minutes. What did this ominous figure mean? How did he know he wasn't some sort of illusion, or hollow? Well, time had stopped, for real this time- he could see Nina standing perfectly still, not moving an inch, and his senkei dome on its way to disperse as he was dying. Yet there was something strange about the whole situation. There had to be something fishy about such a simple choice. After the minutes were over, he answered the only way he knew.

"Bullshit. A choice? My mind was made up the moment I came to Hueco Mundo. I'll regain what status I can, and make my former family rue the day they cast me out. I'm choosing nothing!"  
Death clapped his skeletal hands, and rose, walking towards Byakuya.  
"EXCELLENT. YOU PASS."  
"Say what now?"  
"THERE WAS NO CHOICE. IF YOU HAD SAID 'I choose to live', YOU WOULD HAVE DIED FOR YOUR FAILURE TO REALIZE THE FALSEHOOD OF MY GAME. HAD YOU SAID 'I choose to die' YOU WOULD HAVE DIED FROM CONSENT."  
"So I live?"  
"YES."  
"How? I have a huge hole in my gut."  
Death ran his finger over his wound, and a black light engulfed it.  
"What's that?" Byakuya said nervously.  
"PHENOMENON REJECTION. A DEITY OF MY SKILL CAN USE IT QUITE EASILY."  
The blackness receded, and he was astonished to find that the wound was gone. So was the ominous, hooded figure known as Death.

Nina was not having a good day. She had engaged a captain-level shinigami in combat, and she had been winning. She had delivered a fatal blow, and seen how his ban kai had began to fade. Then, a second later, he had risen and quick as lightning cut a deep, painful wound reaching from her thigh to her shoulder.  
It was healing rapidly of course, but she was on the defensive now. Her sound waves had no effect any more, as the shinigami were cutting to fast back and forth for them to activate. Not to mention the barrage of Kido spells he unleashed at her.

Byakuya was winning, he was sure of it. He knew not whether he had dreamt or not, but his wound was gone. Now, he used hit-and-run tactics to keep that pesky arrancar on her toes, He fired a shot of red fire at her, forcing her to jump up in the air. As she did so, Byakuya was already waiting above.

"Hadou no. 73: Soren sokatsui!" A twin sokatsui stroke down at the arrancar, who couldn't dodge completely. She crashed into the ground. As she forced herself to rise, she heard the shinigami finish a quick chant.  
"Bakudo no. 4: Crawlling rope!" A yellow glowing rope wrapped itself around her slender body. As she struggled, Byakuya began chanting anew.  
Just as she were about to break free of the rope, he spoke again:  
"Bakudo no. 61: Six Rods Light Prison!"

Now, Nina was thoroughly stuck. The six rods were holding her in place, and the shingami had an endless amount of openings. She was not as worried as some others might have been though- she had survived worse situations, always thanks to her regenerative capabilities.  
"It is time to finish this." Byakuya said.  
"Damn right!" She bit back. "You are too weak to kill me now. Cut a limb, and it will grow back." she taunted.  
"We shall see."

Byakuya fell to his knees, and ripped the sleeves of hi shihakusho. He began then to draw a pattern of circles on his arms, using the blood leaking from his wounds.  
"Feel, honoured, arrancar. You are about to witness kido above and beyond anything you have ever seen before."

He then began to chant, and as he did, the circles on his arms began to glow.  
"Oh lord! Reach out thy vengeful hand, take my sacred blood. Strike down mine foe! Take that which is vital, and extinguish her life. Let there ever be pain! Hadou no. 104: Blood lightning!"

His arm glowed, and gouts of electricity ran down the length of the circles. Then, as he brought his hands together, a bolt of red lightning struck her.

The six rods receded, and Nina sunk to her knees. She tried to rise, but her body would not answer to her commands.  
"Have you noticed?" The shinigami said. "Blood lightning is not only extremely difficult to manage, but it is also labeled as forbidden, because of the risks. But in return, it completely paralyses its victim. You are finished. I would behead you, but I am afraid you would grow a new body."  
This was true. Many a time, Nina had heard someone boast of killing her, when in fact she was alive and vengeful.  
"The only option left is to use a spell that destroys you completely. And I know just the spell." Once again Byakuya began chanting.

"Oh vengeful Gods of Old, hear my plea. Righteousness, rise and banish sin. Virtuous dragon, collide with the Kitsune and shake the stars. Purifying flame, soar high and strike with the power of the Patriarch Phoenix: Hado number 95, Part 1: Dark Karma!"  
A black haze began to form, flowing from out Nina's form, until it became a small black orb, hovering in front of her.  
"This legendary spell draws out every sin ever commited by the target, and turns them against her." Byakuya said. "It promises annihilation to a being as sinful as yourself. Few beings are more sinful than a hollow powerful enough to be an arrancar. Now, part two."  
"Justice, great balancer, receive the sins of the lion. Vesta, pure lady, draw the light-"

But Byakuya didn't finish the spell. As he was chanting, a spin kick was delivered to his gut, and he collapsed. The spell faded.  
"I'm sorry" a soft voice said. "but I can't allow you to kill her."  
Byakuya was lying on the ground, and though he couldn't see this new assailant yet, on account of having his face buried in the sand, he could read her reiatsu level. And one thing was certain. She were more than he could ever handle, even rested and healed.

El gasp! Who is this new arrival? Find out by reading the next chapter. As always, read and review.

Also, the spell: "Hado number 95: Dark Karma" was invented by Jazzpha here at . I am using it with his consent.


	6. Blood, reunion and promotion

Oh noes, I forgot to do a disclaimer last chapter! Surely the lawyers will hunt me down now, since I am such a popular author! Well, I own nothing. Except the first fifteen volumes of Bleach, with a sucky english translation.

Byakuya tried with all possible effort to get up. He felt his ban kai receding. That last blow had been breathtaking, and had been the drip that made the cup overflow. He was beat, now. He managed to get his head up for a second, enough to catch a glimpse of this new arrancars' bare back, as she picked up Nina and flashed away. He saw the number "3" tattooed. Byakuyas spirits sank. When rested, an espada wouldn't be too much trouble for one like himself- unless of this level. Byakuya never made any false pretences to himself, he knew his limits. And this was beyond his.

A moment later, the espada reappeared, alone. As she made no move to attack, Byakuya managed to get to a sitting position, though with great effort. As he did, he got a better look at his new foe, from bottom to top.  
She wore her own variant of the white garbs that all arrancar seemed to sport, though hers were not so scandalously revealing as some others he had seen.  
By her hip hung a zanpakuto, whose hilt, guard and sheath were all green. She had large breasts, a long red mark that ran from cheek to cheek, and a scar on her forehead. Perching atop her long, green hair like a crown were the remnants of her mask- a horned skull with a small crack in it.

Her tranquil, serene demeanour, and the fact that she refrained from kicking him when he was down, led him to the conclusion that, rather than some bloodthirsty berserker, she had to be a more cunning kind, the sort that would think before acting. Not that that was any better- a berserker would fight carelessly, giving a weaker opponent a chance.  
Finally, Byakuya began to talk.

"Espada?"  
"Yes?"  
"I ask a boon of you."  
"I would have thought I should be asking questions, but go ahead." she said taking a seat on a pile of sand nearby.  
"Kill me and be done with it. I'll never give out any information, and as I am defeated in the middle of enemy territory, there is nothing left." He said this with no small amount of bitterness. He had been allowed to live by Death himself, only to face someone this much stronger.  
"I won't kill you. I mean you no harm."  
Byakuya didn't believe this for one second. Though the espada were leaderless and therefore disbanded, an individual of her power were bound to want some info on the soul society.  
"You expect me to believe this?"  
She didn't answer at first, but after a while she said:  
"Let's introduce ourselves. I am Neliel Tu Oderschvank. Long ago, before Aizen fell, I was the the tercero espada. Who are you?"  
Byakuya considered her words. If she didn't know who he was, then she might indeed have left Aizen's service long ago. The intelligence the arrancar carried about the seiretei's officers and their abilities were always excellent. Giving out his own name wouldn't hurt, as he was already known.

"I am, or was, Kuchiki Byakuya." Neliel's face lit up at hearing his name, and she eagerly asked:  
"Any relations of Kuchiki Rukia?"  
"If you think you can get to me by threatening my family, then you are sorely mistaken." Byakuya sneered.  
"No, you misunderstand!" she insisted. "I know Rukia."  
"What?"  
"What are you to her, if you have the same name, then?" Nell insisted.  
"She's my nee-sama." Byakuya admitted.  
"Then, do you know someone named Ichigo?" She sounded more excited than before.  
"Do I ever." Byakuya felt no compulsion to cover for him, at least. "He is a pain to deal with. Always rude. Not to mention that his ban kai is ugly."  
"Bring me to him!" she demanded.  
"What? No! Tell me how you know him, and nee-sama, first."  
"Fine." Neliel began then to explain who she was, where she came from, and how she met Ichigo and his friends in hueco mundo.

"You know, Byakuya has been gone for a while. Should we send out some scouts to try and find him?" Ichigo said, turning to Renji.  
"I would, if I had any men to spare. But I don't. Now get back to the fight!" Renji commanded. Their position was doing just fine since Byakuya's leave, with only a few light casualities on their side. Still, they all worried about him.

"So" Byakuya said "you turned into a kid after being tossed out, and then you met Kurosaki when he went in to Las Noches?"  
"Mm-hmm."  
"And you befriended him. And when the quinta espada attacked him, you went back to this form."  
"Uh-huh."  
"And then, when you had him on the edge of defeat, you reverted back to your child form, at which point Zaraki Kenpachi stepped in and fought this Nnoitora person to death."  
"Right."  
"But if you were such good friends, how come you were left behind?"  
Nell looked a little sad at this, but began to explain.  
"Orihime got kidnapped again, and Ichigo hurried to save her. Before I could catch up, he had already fought and defeated Ulquiorra somehow. But before he died, Ulquiorra activated some bomb that was supposed to destroy Las Noches. Someone opened a portal back to the soul society, and Ichigo was taken with them. I'm sure he didn't leave me intentionally."  
"But espada have all sorts of powers. Would it be so hard to search for him yourself?"  
"Yes." she said. "I do not have full control of my power yet, and I won't until this scar in my mask has healed. I can't open a garganta."  
"Is that why you keep those numeros?" Byakuya said, pointing to Nina and two other arrancar, who had stepped forward while they were talking.  
"That, too. But I gathered them also because not all of us have to be bloodthirsty murderers. Because some of us deserve better than to be killed in a war."  
"But what happened to those two other hollows you mentioned?"  
"They... died. Got killed by some numeros I never saw. Ichigo is the only friend I have left."  
There was an earnest quality in her voice when she said this. Byakuya would never admit it, but he was a little moved.  
"So what should we do?"  
"Well, here's my offer: Take me to Ichigo, and I'll pretend to be your prisoner, and I'll give myself up to your forces."  
Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "You aren't afraid to get killed, or worse?"  
"I have way too much information on Hueco Mudo for me to die. I'll tell you all you want to know."

Byakuya considered his options. He could either return in glory with a valuable informant, or die alone in the desert. And if this was some kind of trick, she'd be killed pretty quickly.

"All right."  
"Let's go then."  
Nell turned to the three arrancar waiting for her.  
"I'll be going away for a while, guys." she said.  
"You're not leaving us for good, Neliel-sama?" one of them, a short boy, asked sounding fearful.  
"No. I'll be back after some time."  
And with that, she picked Byakuya up, holding him in her arms as a groom might hold his bride. And then, with a buzz, they were speeding away towards the  
battle position.  
"This is embarassing beyond words." Byakuya remarked. "If anyone I knew saw this, I'd commit to harakiri."  
"Shut up, you big baby." was the only reply he got.

A few miles before they could see the war camp, Neliel stopped and put him down. As she drew her blade, Byakuya suddenly became afraid that she had changed her mind, and had decided to kill him anyway. But instead, she ran the blade across her arm, drawing blood.

"What are you doing?" he asked, puzzled.  
"If I'm going to pretend I've been taken prisoner, we should make it believable." she said, proceeding to smear blood all over her outfit, and ripping her clothes here and there. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, she pulled out some chains. Byakuya winced at this.  
"Where did you keep those? And why do you carry chains around?" He asked, a little disturbed.  
"It's the result of years of masochism." she replied. Byakuya felt it was best not to inquire further.

Renji woke up suddenly, feeling a wave of familiar- and unfamiliar- reiatsu. As he walked towards the edge of the camp, he noticed Ichigo standing there already.  
The both of them looked out at hueco mundos sands, only barely making out the figure of the two persons walking towards them. After a while, they began to recognize the two shapes. Soon, it was obvious beyond question who they were. Ichigo looked pale.  
"Hey, isn't that Kuchiki-taicho and..." Renji began, but Ichigo had already began running towards them.

Wisely, Byakuya had let go of the chain in time, and Nell, too began running. She and Ichigo met in a fierce hug. Byakuya didn't really hear what they were saying, but he could guess. Well, at least the arrancar had been telling the truth.  
As he passed them he said: "Let's go. I fulfilled my end of the bargain. Now it's your turn."  
"What the hell did you do to her?!" Ichigo exclaimed angrily.  
Slowly, Byakuya turned to him, displaying a shihakusho ripped to shreds and a hundred wounds, and half-dried blood all over.  
"Do I look like I am in any shape to defeat an espada? She is unhurt. Now, I need to go report to Abarai-fukutaicho so that I can go faint from blood loss near some 4th division member."  
Satisfied with that, Ichigo went back to holding Nell. Fed up with the sweet words of apologies and affection, Byakuya made for the makeshift hospital. Which was just as well, because the author was in no mood to write cheesy, romantic reunion scenes.

When Byakuya woke up, he was in the qurters of the 4th division. Not in Hueco Mundo, but in the seireitei. He was covered in bandages, and pleasantly painless.  
As he looked around, he saw several other people in the room: Rukia, Renji, Ichigo and some scrawny healer. Byakuya recognized him as the 7th seat. By the nightstand, his sword was leaning. He felt happy that so many were there to see him.  
"Hello, everyone." he said.  
"You are awake, nii-sama!" Rukia exclaimed.  
"Yes, and I'm happy- why the HELL are you wearing a vice-captains badge, Rukia-nee-sama?!"  
"Umm..." she began.  
"She is the Juusanbantai fukutaicho." Ichigo said.  
Byakuya was quiet for at little before he spoke again.  
"I solemnly swear, in the presence of witnesses, to cut Ukitake's balls off the next time I see him." he said, gritting his teeth.  
"Then maybe I should go." It was Ukitake, just stepping into the room. "I so rarely get to visit someone on their sickbed; it's always the other way around."

No one had thoguht Byakuya had been serious, which was why he almost got ahold of senbonzakura before Renji and Ichigo manged to forced him back into his bed.  
"Let me go!" Byakuya raged. "I'll fucking kill him!"  
"Why don't you step out." Ukitake said to the others. "Byakuya and I will talk this over."

They did so, and only Ukitake was left.  
"I am giving you two minutes to explain why you made nee-sama a vice-captain before I castrate you." Byakuya said in his harshest tone.  
"She killed an espada. I tested her against my third seats, both at the same time. She is beyond a doubt the second strongest individual in the 13th division. I need a vice-captain. And she is it, even though it took some serious convincing."  
"You KNOW how much I've sacrificed to protect her. And you know why. I won't forgive this."  
"That's too bad. But I'm not changing my mind. You can plead with Yamamoto as much as you like with this, but I doubt you'll have much luck." Ukitake said, rising and walking towards the door.  
"I understand how you feel, Byakuya, but she must be able to protect herself. I won't suffer talent to go to waste any more." And with that, he was gone.

After sulking a while, Byakuya saw a letter on his night stand. Upon opening it, he saw it was a summons to the soutaicho's office, effective the moment he was discharged.

Well, he'd had better days, but it could be worse. Byakuya fell asleep, dreaming of various cruel ways to kill and maim the sickly captain of the 13th division.


	7. Looking back and eating bananas

All right everbody, chapter seven. Most of this will take place in flashback, and there will be little action. Next chapter will have plenty of it, though.

Almost half a year had passed. As our hero was sitting in a wooded area of the rukongai, eating a banana sundae with side helpings of banana (all this swallowed down with copious amounts of sake-banana smoothies), he could not help but reminisce a little, thinking back to the events of the last few months. Like that interesting conversation he'd had with Yamamoto.

Byakuya walked in to Yamamoto Shigekuni-Genryuusais office. It was becoming familiar to him.  
"I trust your injuries have healed?" Yamamoto spoke up.  
"Well enough, Yamamoto-sama." His wounds weren't completely healed, and they still ached a little when he moved, but he was well enough to walk around without crutches.  
"Before we begin", he continued "I'd very much like to ask you a few questions, Yamamoto-sama."  
"Very well." The sotaicho did not seem bothered by this, as Byakuya had feared, and let him ask away.  
"I was just recently discharged form fourth, and I have received little news about the outside world. How is the war going?  
"Better than ever. The battle which saw you return to action was something of a turning point, and we are defeating our foes at every turn."  
"Glad to hear it. What about that espada I 'captured'? Nel something?"  
The sotaicho was quiet for a while, so long that he thought that he might not have heard him. But then, he began speaking.  
"She is currently detained and under the supervision of the 2nd division. She is a very interesting case, actually. She's been interrogated by the mobile forces' finest interrogators, including the captain herself, and she has cooperated at every turn. She surrendered vital information, such as the location of Las Noches. That has been lost to us since it exploded. Kurotsuchi-taicho was more pleased than I ever knew he could be when he was allowed to excavate the ruins for any information."  
He paused for a while, as if trying to remember what else there was to say about that matter.

"She has been evaluted by the 12th divisions finest psychiatrists and psychoanalysts, and they all reach the same conclusion."  
"What?" Byakuyas interest had been roused at this point, and he was eager to hear more.  
"Judging by shinigami standards, she is a kind, peace-loving individual who would avoid conflict for as ong as possible. In short, she is no threat to us."  
"What will become of her?"  
"A hundred years ago" Yamamoto said grudgingly, "I would have executed her, or given her to the 12th division for experiments. But now... I have other plans. She, like the vizard on our pay roll, will work under our command, but outside the autority of the seireitei. An independent, powerful force. Better to have her on our side than against us."  
"You'll let her go?" Byakuya was astonished.  
"Officially, she'll run away. Only the captain will know of this scheme. I plan on keeping her close to that Kurosaki. That shoudn't be too difficult."  
"I see. Well, that satisfies my curiosity, Yamamoto-sama. Why did you summon me?"

Yamaoto took a seat in a massive chair, and gestured for Byakuya to do the same.  
"Byakuya. I ask you, what are the three powers of the soul society?"  
Before he could answer, Yamamoto continued:  
"The first is the power of the people. It is constantly underestimated, but immensely strong. In the few instances a larger amount of souls from rukongai has rebelled, it was always a great trouble. The second is the power of the noble houses, most notably Shihoin, Ukitake, Kyoraku and Kuchiki. Third, effectively and officially in charge, is the military might of the seireitei juusantai, with me on top."  
This made sense. It was familiar to him, since he had been a clan head.

"To be the general commander demands immense skill in the field of politics. I constantly maintain balance, and the ones giving me trouble are always ambitious noblemen. Now, would you care to guess how I hold them all in check?"  
Byakuya thought a little, and answered with the first example he could think of.  
"The Shihoin. They are closely associted with the secret moible forces, and has been so since its earliest days."  
"Correct. Ever since I founded it, I made sure that one family was so closely tied to a great honour that they would never go against me. Anything else?"  
"You personally trained Ukitake-taicho and Kyoraku-taicho. Both of them are likely to become the next clan heads, and they would support you in anything."  
"True. Which leaves..."  
"Kuchiki." Byakuya said darkly. "The most famed and prominent clan."  
"Exactly. I had hoped you would be enough, since you are ambitious, but not too ambitious. I had not counted on a coup-de-tat, though."  
"And now, they wish to be even more powerful."  
"And I won't stand for it!" The sotaicho said, his voice showing immense determination.

"What do you have in mind?" Byakuya asked, intrigued.  
"You."  
"What?"  
"You were cast out and disgraced, unrightly so. In response, You shall be made the greatest hero the soul society has known."  
"How?" Byakuya said, confused.  
"What are your views on propaganda?"  
"It is a useful and necessary means of control, why? ....oh."  
"The war will be over soon. In the wake of this, many will be awarded medals of valor and the likes. All noble families, except Kuchiki will be represented. You, of course, will be celebrated as the hero of the most important battle in the entire war. I'll use anyu and all medias to highlight you, above all else. You will contribute by doing daring things on the field of battle, leading the men and protecting those weaker."

It was a good plan, he had to admit it. He had had no idea how to get back at his 'family' (except various faantasies involving ban kai and blood), but this seemed a good way.  
And with that, he had been sent back to the battlefield.

And he had been made a hero. Whoever was in charge of propaganda had been working frantically to glorify everything he did, and almost eevery issue of the newspaper featured a picture of him striking a heroic pose. Before long, the entire 6th division took his orders as if he was a captain again. What pleased him most about this was the sour looks any and all Kuchiki would give him every time he passed them.  
After two months more, the shingami pulled back. They had made a notable dent in the hollow population, and the arrancar created by Aizen were all but extinct.  
The following weeks, after the ceremonies of sorrow for the dead, and the ceremonies of heroism for those who had commited acts of bravery, Yamamoto decided that Byakuya was going to be a hero of the people as well. So Byakuya and a handful of chosen shinigami, took to patrolling the rukongai with the intention of protecting thhe souls living there from hollows and criminals.  
With quite some success, too.

And thus, he was soon known as 'Byakuya, champion of the common man'. Officialy, he was doing this on his own accord, making him seem even more selfless. To further this image, he would dine with commoners, and help them with the most menial tasks.  
He was famous again, and he ejoyed once more the stares that came with it. Unlike the times when he was noble, however, he was not feared. People dared approach him and ask for help without running the risk of being sent away with harsh words. He found that he enjoyed this new position.

Still, he was uneasy at times. The void that was left in his heart when he had been wrenched from his status as a nobleman had begun to fill, but he missed it sometimes. One day, he tracked down Shihoin Yoruichi, when he knew she was visiting the soul society. Exactly why, he knew not, but they had a conversation.

"Hello, Byakuya-bo." Yoruichi said as he made his presence known through flash step.  
"I... came to talk to you." he said, uncertain of what he should say.  
"Then, talk." Her short reply was not harsh, but plainly leaving conversation up to him.  
"I'll not ask why or how you left your position all those years ago, but... how did you deal with leaving it all? How did you cope?" Byakuyas voice was filled with eagernes, an earnest wish to understand.  
"You and I are different, Byakuya-bo. Noibility fitted you like the hand fits to the glove. Me? I never liked it. I am happier now, when I am free from all the responsibilities with it. Still, I wouldn' have left without reason"  
"But didn't you miss it at all?" Byakuya said, his voice filled with angst.  
"Yes, I did. I love my freedom, but I DID miss it. There was plenty of regret. But I got over it quick enough."  
"What will I do, then?" Byakuya asked, not expecting a straight answer. "What will become of me?" All the emotion he had held back surfaced, now that he spoke with an old aquaintance in a similar situation.  
Yoruichi took hi hand, and calmly said to him, in a very serious tone:  
"Listen, to me, Byakuya-bo. This could be the best thing that ever happened to you, if you let it. To be noble is to bear a weight around your neck. Consider yourself free, not disgraced."  
The two of them talked for hours, about memories, fighting styles, everything there was to talk about between heaven and earth. And Byakuya found that Shihoin Yoruichi was a lot more agreeable than he remembered.

Still, he was not entirely satisfied in his thoughts of noble life contra common life, and he went to visit someone else in a similar situation: Shiba Kuukaku. He stayed with her for a few days, in exchange foe some manual labour. He did not learn much, and he found Kuukaku to be, though not entirely disagreeable, crude and ill-tempered. She seemed happy with her life, however, and that was all he needed to know.

Still, he was not satisfied. Something was missing. So he decided to do something he could never have done as a noble- to fraternize romantically with a commoner.  
He held no claims of false modesty. He knew that the women of the soul society thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, so he decided not to go for just anyone. He went for Matsumoto Rangiku. She might actually turn him down, and though she was beatiful, she was anything but graceful. And the heavens knew that he had enough of grace.  
Said and done, he asked her out to dinner. She accepted, and the two of them had, in spite of Byakuya's fears of anything else, a good time. Rangiku was cleverer than he thought, and he enjoyed a rather giving conversation with her. Byakuya, being more familiar these days, was charming as well as handsome, and the both of them resolved (to themselves) that they had to do it again.  
They did.

Yes, a lot had happened these last few months, and Byakuya felt utterly content as he sipped on his banana smoothie. Unbeknowst to him, however, his peace would soon be broken. He knew nothing of it, but you, dear reader, shall.

"The Kuchiki elder meeting is declared to be in session." It was Kuchiki Kazuna.  
"Obviously." A sarcastic voice.  
"Why have we gathered again, Kazuna-dono?" An annoyed voice.  
"T'is simple. That welp Byakuya is going too far. He disgraces our name constanly! He is idolized by everyone, at the expense of OUR reputation."  
"Whose hand do you really think is behind that?" The sarcastic voice bit back. "Yamamoto is the one supporting him. Do you think this would have happened if you weren't so power-hungry, Kazuna-dono?"  
"We need to be rid of him." Kazuna insisted. "For good."  
"What are you suggesting then? The people loves him, not to mention that he is a captain-level." The voice was dripping criticism.  
"We end him. We have the necessary means."  
"You are a FOOL!" The voice exclaimed. "First you coerce the council into banishing the most brilliant leader we had in a thousand years, and now you would make a martyr out of him?"  
"It does not matter. He is damaging us too much as it is."  
"Have you any idea how bad this could be if we- no you, were caught?"  
"We won't. We have that special agent. Her powers should prove useful."  
"I've said it before, and I'll say it again: You'll lead us to ruin with this design."  
The voice then went quiet, in resignation, its protest insufficient.

Byakuya was slowly falling asleep. He was content. All was well. But little did he imagine, as he drifted off to the land of dreams, that he was being watched.

OK, please review. I appreciate favourite story and story alert, but there is nothing I love more than reviews. Plese let me know your thoughts, those of you who read this.


	8. True betrayal, a bitter fight

All right, everybody, chapter eight! But before we begin, I'd like to say: Matsumama, you are awesome. Four reviews, and a story update. Arigato gozaimasu!

Disclaimer: Last week, Tite Kubo revealed that he was, in fact a twenty-year old swedish guy living in the middle parts of southern Sweden. By the way, if you are retarded and didn't realize that was a blatant lie, I'll spell it out for you: I do not own Bleach.

On with the story.

__________________________________________________________________________

She entered the chambers. She was awaited. She had been told there was a mission, though what exactly had not been specified. Her profession left little doubt as to what it was, though. She had been told it was about a renegade. She was sure she would be operating outside the jurisdiction of her captain, and her loyalty to her captain was the one thing leaving a strand of regret in her mind. But no, she had to be as merciless and unforgiving as ever. Her loyalty to the clan head, Kuchiki Kanda-sama, was unending, and she would lay down her life for him without a second thought, should he command it. He had been kind to her in the past, before his ascension. She would be proud to die in his service.  
There was one thing bothering her, however. It shamed her to think it, but sometimes it felt like his highness, though intelligent and competent, was little more than a marionette. For all his skill, he was a little to reliant on his chichi-ue.  
This mission was, she was sure, the effect of venerable Kazuna-sama's machinations. She shook her head, dismissing all such thoughts. She had no right to criticise those above her by birth, even in mind.

"I trust you know what is expected of you?" The sound of his calm, collected voice, kind and forgiving, mad her heart swell with pride that she had been chosen for this mission.  
"My deepest apologies, your exalted highness, but I was not briefed before your summoning."  
"Strange." he said, raising an eyebrow. "Well, perhaps you would explain the whole of the plan, father?"  
From out the shadows stepped the form of revered Kazuna, the elder.  
"Do it yourself, Kanda. I am only here to officialy give the support of the council of elders."  
"Very well. You know of my cousin and predecessor?"  
She did. If she were to hunt him, she would most certainly have to die in the attempt if she were to have a chance.  
"He is a disgrace to me and to us all," he continued. "and though it pains me, I have, after taking fathers advice, decided to be rid of him."  
Out of nowhere, without understanding why, she blurted out: "May I speak my opinion, your highness?"  
"Certainly not!" Kazuna sneered. "A servant should know her place, and not question the decisions of her betters!" It looked like he would continue to scold, but a gesture from Kanda silenced him.  
"We shall hear what she has to say, father. Hers is the opinion of a professional, and it is of value to me."  
After a little hesitation, she spoke up.  
"I know what is expected of me, your highness, and I know why I was chosen. But he and I... we are miles and miles apart in terms of skill and experience.-" here, she was cut off by Kazuna.  
"Do you doubt your own skills, girl?" A harsh tone.  
"No, venerable one, but I know my limits. Alone I cannot kill him. It is a fact."  
"Worry not." Kanda said. "You will not be alone. There is more than one layer to this scheme. I shall not lie and claim that you will live, for it is more likely than not that you won't. We will succeed, however."  
"And you will give it your all." Kazuna added. She had never liked him much- an old schemer, too obsessed with his own ambition to see the greater good. This didn't mean she wouldn't lay down her life for him as eagerly as she would for Kanda, though.  
"You will go to the 38th district of the rukongai, where he resides for the moment. Go tomorrow morning, and make preparations. You will be informed fully until then. Dismissed."  
And thus, she lay in wait to kill a man she knew were honourable.

Back in the present, Byakuya was sleeping with his back to a tree, dreaming of bananas and Rangiku. As he peacefully lay there, five men arrived by shunpo.  
All of them carried zanpakuto, and they all wore the scars that spoke of veteran status.  
As the first one drew his sword, a second one, whose clothes and dignified bearing told of nobility, said: "You would slay him in his sleep? That is an end unbefitting of a man such as he."  
"Why not?" the man grunted. "Only a fools fight is fair. If he was awake, we'd die quicker than you could say 'kenseikan'. We are hired to kill, not to duel."  
"I must insist." the nobleman said.  
"You are a fool." a third one said, a hulking swordsman. "But if you must, let's give him a harsh waking up."  
With that, he brought his fist down towards Byakuyas face. Without even opening his eyes, Byakuya caught it in his right hand, stopping it without effort.  
Slowly, he rose, yawning and rubbing his eyes.  
"Are you all retarded?" he said, brusquely. "Did you think I grew less skillful with demotion?"  
Not answering, the swordsmen drew their zanpakuto and charged. Yawning one last time, Byakuya drew his blade and fought back. The trick, he realized, would not be defeating them, but defeating them without killing them. At least one of them were noble, and the others carried the insignia given to hired soldiers who were sworn to his family. Killing just one of them would likely be the opportunity the elders had waited for- they would charge him with murder, and drag him down.  
Still, this would not be all that hard.

A few painful gashes and binding spells later, only the nobleman stood. The boy was not without skill- he had professional shinigami training, and he was actually making Byakuya consider releasing Senbonzakura.  
"Give up." Byakuya said. "Your little attempt at pinning a murder charge on me is over. You are not my peer in the least."  
"This is not over!" the boy shouted, charging again. Then, he did something unexpected. He let senbonzakura run through his shoulder, just to create an opening. Byakuya remained unfazed, and simply restrained him with the fourth binding spell, stopping his sword-arm before it had a chance to strike.

Then, his left side exploded with pain. A few moments later, when he had stopped acting on instinct to save his life, he realized the situation: A small assassin, clad in black, had delivered a deep wound to his side. He hadn't sensed her until it was too late, because she had been hiding her reiatsu, and the swordsmen had been flaring theirs. Adding to the misery was the fact that the blade that struck him had been coated with some drug- he was feeling dizzy. Five elite swordsmen had attacked him, and they were nothing but pawns to create an opening. If it weren't for his years of experience, he would not have been able to stop the blade from piercing his heart.

The little murder raised her blade, and cried out: "Spit, Wedjat!" He could only assume that was her shikai. Her blade curved a little, and the tip grew two fang-like teeth.  
She swung her blade from the distance, and a spray of mist raced towards him. Byakuya just barely dodged, and what little of it hit his clothes began to dissolve.  
"Poison." he thought to himself.  
Byakuya held his blade firmly as she raced towards him again. Despite his wound, his superior swordsmanship and years of experience began to tell. Still, he could not quite hit her. She was fast, very fast, and each sword stroke he could manage against her was parried or evaded. Deciding that fighting fairly didn't work, he brought his sword into a lock with her. When he was close enough, he headbutted her. She lost balance. Before she could regain it, he followed up with a violent blow from his sword. She parried, but both their swords were flung upwards. Neither of them could have hit the other with a blade fo that moment, but that was not what Byakuya was after. He delivered a punch to her gut, as hard as he could, and as she lost her breath he flashed some ten meters back.  
It was time to end this. Holding up his sword straight he said: "Chire, Senbonzakura."

What happened next was a surprise, even to one such as himself. As his blade shattered, she too gave a command. Suddenly, her sword took the form of a long cobra, which surged towards him at an impossible speed. Expecting a bite to his body, Byakuya threw himself back, but the snake didn't bite him. It bit the base of his zanpakuto, which hadn't quite shattered yet. He could hear Senbonzakura scream in his head, howling in agony. His sword once again took the shape of a normal katana. Byakuya flung himself even further back, and entered the realm of his zanpakuto.

Normally when he conversed with Senbonzakura, her world was a beautiful garden of cherry blossoms. Now, something was clearly wrong. The trees sported taints of sickly yellow and green. Senbonzakura herself looked ill.  
"What happened?" he asked, his voice fearful.  
"It's... her zanpakuto. It kills o-other zanpakuto." She stuttered.  
"Will you be alright?" he asked, more afraid than ever.  
"I'll l-live. I'm s-stronger." she said, some degree of the pride he knew so well coming forth. "B-but I can't help you. It is taking me all I have to live right n-now."  
"I see. She'll pay." Byakuya made ready to return to the fight.  
"B-be careful, Byakuya."

He was angry, now. An assassin? He could deal with that. An assassin is just a tool employed by someone else, after all. But to hurt his precious Senbonzakura? That was too much. He waited calmly for the next attack. Time and again, the snake would strike, and time and again, he'd jump to the side just in time. When he had the time, he would bombard her with offensive kido. This went on for twenty minutes, until finally her sword receded to its previous form. She came again, fighting in close quarters, seemingly everywhere and nowhere.  
But Byakuya fought with all he had now, and he was taller, heavier and had a longer reach with his sword. Growing desperate, the assassin dashed towards him again. Then, Byakuya dropped his defenses, letting go of his sword. She seemed surprised, but struck anyway. The blade hit his shoulder. It hurt like hell, but he had her now. With one hand, he grabbed her sword arm, and with the other he made ready for a kido spell.  
"Bakudo no. 4: Yellow rope!"  
The spell wrapped tiself around her, restraining her arms, her legs. She was stuck. Grimacing, he pulled out her sword from his shoulder.  
Still she wouldn't give up.  
"Bakudo no. 8: Anchor ropes!"  
Now, the both of them were firmly held in place. Byakuya knew this spell, it was used fix anything to one point- hence the name 'anchor rope'."  
A jet of white flames exploded only three feet from where they were.  
Byakuya looked up. The sky seemed to have taken all the colors of the rainbow, and several hado spells were forming. He recognized this. Somewhere, a ring of skilled kido users were forming a kido barrage. It was used mostly to cause massive damage to a large area, usually against large groups of hollows. And here he was, pinned in the middle of it. He was powerful, but taking spell after spell practically point-blank would eventually kill him. He felt angry at the entire situation. To die here by an assassins hand, his work unfinished. He saw a sokatsui coming. It impacted only a foot away from where he was standing. Above him, a soren sokatsui formed. This one would hit him right on. He looked on defiant, as it came closer and closer.

Then, somehow, he wasn't dead. It took him a few seconds to catch up: someone had broken the spells and moved him, and his would-be murderer, to safety. As he saw the barrage from a distance, he turned to his saviour.

"Soifon-taicho. Always a pleasure to see you."

Aaaand end. Next chapter sometime in the future. Read and review, people, for it makes me happy.


	9. A shocking proposal

Byakuya opened his eyes. For a few precious seconds he experienced the delirium of the place between dream and sleep, where you do not know where you are, or who you are, and neither do you care. Then, his body was alive with pain. He had experienced a lot of it- he had taken Gin's Shinso straight through his torso, he had willingly cut his left arm and leg with his own sword, not to mention the indescribable pain he had felt at his first hangover. Yet this was different. His whole body felt like it was being consumed by flames, he could feel each and every heartbeat his body pumped. Every sensation, no matter how small, he realized with inhuman perception. His skin against his torn and bloodied clothes, the air rushing into his lungs... Even the sound of grass rustling seemed to hurt his ears. After some amount of time- an aeon, or a minute- he realized there was an epicentre to this unending sensation. His left shoulder was throbbing with pain, and hurt more than any other place. How did that happen again?  
It all came back to him, as he realized he must have blacked out. He had been attacked by the very people he had ojce commanded and called family, and almost killed by a little girl. He looked up at the sky, remembering the kido barrage that had well nigh been his end. It was still going strong. It couldn't have been long, then.  
As he moved his head- the only movement he felt capable of- he realized he was sitting with his back against a tree. How did that happen? Oh, that was right.  
His eyes landed on the petite head assasin of the seireitei- the only person who was colder than he had been as a captain. Soifon. Now he remembered it all. Every last bit. He owed her a lot, he knew. Not that it would matter much, though. He knew enough of poisons to recognize that he was a few feet away from Death's door.

"Taicho..." he spoke up, but fell silent. He hadn't thought it possible, but even his vocal cords were burning.  
"Be silent." Soifon bit back, harshly. "I'm trying to sense whether or nor I were followed."  
That made sense, so Byakuya kept quiet. He noticed something odd- the little assasin was lying a mere six feet away, not moving a muscle. Why Soifon had risked herself to save her as well, he didn't know. Supposedly for information.  
Then, Soifon quit her concentrated look and turned to Byakuya.

"You were poisoned. Badly." It was not a question.  
"Yeah." Byakuya struggled to talk. "What the hell is going on, Taicho? Who is...?"  
Soifon didn't pay him any attention, but reached for her zanpakuto, carefully drawing it.  
"Jinteki shakusetsu, Zuzumebachi." Her short sword transformed to the lethal black-and-yellow stinger that was her shikai.  
Byakuya felt a little alarmed. His head, filled with an overactive imagination spawned from fever, thought of all sorts of horrible scenarios. Had his family managed to recruit even her? Did they reach that far? Was she a traitor, too?  
"Hey, what--?" was all he could say before she plunged the tip of her stinger in between the two puncture wounds caused by the fangs of the assasin's zanpakuto. She let it stay for a few seconds, and the distinctive black butterfly mark appeared on his left shoulder. She then pulled it out of the wound. He more than half expected her to strike a second time, but she remained still.  
"Captain, what in the hells?!" he managed.  
"Zuzumebachi can counteract and draw out poisons, 15th seat Byakuya." she replied. "It was too late to draw it out, so I injected a potent anti-venom. It should take effect within seconds.  
It did.  
"First" Soifon continued "it will hurt like never before."  
The pain, which he had gotten somewhat used to, started to increase.  
"It will only take a few minutes, though. Then, it will become a dull ache."  
And by the gods, it hurt. He wanted to scream, but found himself utterly paralyzed. The pains from before seemed like a gentle massage, like the breeze of a summer wind, like a pleasurable hot spring in comparison. Much later, he would think back to it and realise that, yes, it was a matter of minutes. It didn't seem like it at the time, though.  
But eventually- and almost instantly- the pain began to fade away. Soon, it was a dull ache, as she had promised, and before long his shoulder had gone numb. He tried to move his hand, and found that he was no longer paralyzed.

"So, will you tell me now?" Byakuya spoke without adding any respectful suffix of title; he was tired, and tired of not knowing who had tried to kill him and why.  
Rather than answering him, she walked over to the little assasin clad in black. He realized just how small she was; she was even shorter than Soifon.  
Soifon ripped of the mask covering her head and face, revealing a girl with brown hair, rahter beautiful features and sad eyes.  
Soifon grabbed her by the hair, and pulled her up into a sitting position.  
"This" she said, her voice all contempt, "is my good-for-nothing 9th seat, Mitsuko."  
So it really was a trained and seated member of the second division. How they got ahold of her, he couldn't understand.  
"How is it that one of your own were going after me?" he asked puzzled. "I have an obvious suspect in the question of who would want to kill me, but saying who out loud is dangerous. You know who I mean. But how would 'they' command a seated officer of the Secret Mobile Corps?"  
"I do know."Soifon replied. "As for why, I think the fact that her family name is Raida should explain things."

Raida Mitsuko. Raida. Of course. The Raidas were a family of low nobility, dedicated to the service of the Kuchiki for at least fifteen generations now. If the head called for her services, she couldn't refuse. If he thought hard enough, he could almost remember her- a scrawny child among the trainee servants. He knew some of them entered the juusantai to improve their martial skills, to better serve as guards, but he couldn't remember any of the entering second. She had to be something else if she were accepted despite a possibility of dual loyalty.  
Then, realization dawned on him.

"She's like you." he said, disregarding rank.  
"Yes." Soifon admitted. "And the iota of sympathy I can give her situation is the only reason I haven't snapped her neck yet. That, and the information she might provide. Now, let me take a look at your wounds. I know some healing kido--"  
Soifon had been walking towards him as she spoke, and stood right before him, when he heard the cry: "Spit, Wedjat!"  
With horror, he saw that her zanpakuto had taken the form of a long serpent again. There was no way he could dodge in time. He didn't have to, though.  
Soifon side-stepped, and the snake buried its fangs deep into her shoulder.

There was quite a display of emotion playing over the young assassin's face; seldom had Byakuya seen such horror, sadness and determination mixed.  
Soifon, giving an unimpressed look, simply reached for the snake's head with her idle hand, and clutched its head. After squeezing it good, it receded back into a sword, squirming in pain.  
"What was that, Mitsuko?" Soifon taunted. "Were you going to kill your target? Kill your captain?"  
Mitsuko gave no answer, and got up to her feet. Though unsteady, she held up her blade and charged.  
"Such spirit. It's such a waste." Soifon said in a regretful tone, striking her down with one hand, sending her crashing into a tree.  
She cast a glance at her wound, and gave it the same treatment she had given Byakuya. She seemed completely unaffected.  
Still, Byakuya could see the assassin stir, getting up and raising her blade. Not even looking her way, Soifon hurled two kunai, striking her arm and nailing it to the tree.

"Thank you." Byakuya said. "I owe you my life."  
"Don't thank me. I was merely disciplining an insubordinate officer."  
"You saved my life, in more than one sense." Byakuya insisted.  
"How so?"  
"She was fast, and very skilled. Caught me off guard." Soifon scoffed at this.  
"Had I not taken to sparring with you every now and then when I was a captain, I wouldn't have survived. Her use of Hakuda is very similar to yours."  
"Fine, if you insist." Soifon said.  
"I wonder, though..." Byakuya said.  
"What."  
"Grateful as I am, I wonder what a captain like yourself is doing in thee rukongai. It seems strange. I wouldn't be surprised if the SMC had been monitoring my movement, but the captain herself?"  
"Well, if you must know" she said "Shiba Kuukaku just recently moved here, and Yoruichi-sama is staying with her for now. I was going to pay her a visit. And yes, the SMC has been following you."  
"I understand. Now what?"  
"Now this." she said, giving him a punch, knocking him out.

When he woke up, he was in a bed at the Shiba manor. He was feverish, but he could still recognize the reiatsu of Yoruichi, Kuukaku and Soifon. He noticed one odd thing- Soifon's butterfly mark wasn't gone, even though he was no longer poisoned.  
Finding a walking stick next to his bed, he got up, supporting himself on it as he walked.  
Though the house seemed large, he finally found his way to the room from where Soifon's reiatsu came. Opening the door, he looked around. There was Soifon, and Yoruichi.

"Tell me" he began "how long have I slept?"  
"About three days, Byakuya-bo." Yoruichi replied.  
Feeling too weak to protest at the endearing term, he sat down.  
"Have you sent word to Yamamoto-sama, Soifon-taicho?"  
"Yes. Some of our best are patrolling the area in case of another attempt."  
"I doubt they'd dare." he grumbled. "What of that girl, Mitsuko?"  
"I have interrogated her. She needed some- ahem- persuasion, though."  
An unpleasant memory came back to him. Sounds of screams disturbing his sleep- screams of utter terror.  
"What have you got, then?" he asked, not letting his memories move him.  
"She said nothing that would incriminate the Kuchikis" Yoruichi began "but she hinted enough that we know beyond a doubt that it is them."  
"Isn't that just dandy." Byakuya said bitterly. "My own family. Suddenly, I feel like killing something."  
"You can't strain yourself, even emotionally." Yoruichi said. "Keep calm."  
"Since when do I not?" taking a look at his left shoulder he added: "Why do I still carry this butterfly mark, taicho?"  
"It is strange" Soifon replied "but I cannot force it back. It's there to stay. Why? My best guess is that the poison from Mitsuko's zanpakuto burnt it till it couldn't be removed. It's harmelss anyway."  
"So, I'll have to carry this around for the rest of my life then?"  
"Anyway," Soifon continued, ignoring him, "it is Yamamoto-sama's order that you return to the Seireitei as soon as you are fit to walk."  
"Then I leave now." he said, getting up pains-takingly. "I have things to deal with there."  
"Out of the question." Soifon argued. "You can just barely stand."  
"It's alright, little bee." Yoruichi said. "I'll carry him."  
For a moment he considered refusing, as he found himself carried around by women too much already, but things were urgent. Swallowing his pride, he said:  
"Fine."

Elsewhere, Kuchiki Kazuna was yet again assembling the council of ruling elders.  
"The council is in session." It was the announcer.  
"My fellow elders." Kazuna spoke up. "As you all very well know, we are at times of great distress. Due to circumstances out of my control, the assassination of Byakuya has failed--"  
"You mean you failed!" an angry voice cried out, and a murmur of approval was heard.  
"Silence!" Kazuna commanded, outraged. Another elder had called to speak, and Kazuna granted him the right.  
"Kazuna" the elder began in a somewhat nasal tone. He had always hated that tone. "you came to us with a scheme that would further us all. We trusted you. And where has that led us? Do you even comprehend the levels of the scandal that could be if this got out?" There were various sounds of "hear hear" and "good man" throughout the room.  
"My esteemed gentlemen" Kazuna began. "everything is under control. We could not foresee that the 2nd divisions captain would be in the area- a twist of fate saved Byakuya. The only real problem now is the increased amount of guard surrounding him." He would have continued, but was interrupted yet again.  
"You would make yet another attempt on his life, when he is on his guard? Absurd!" the angry voice cried out. The murmur of approval escalated to a choir of angry, accusing voices, all directed at him. It would have gone on for a long time, had not a commanding voice out shouted them.  
"I call silence!" it shouted, and little by little, the elders went quiet. It was the sarcastic voice from earlier.  
"Now" it said "who here feels Kazuna has failed in his leading of the council?"  
There was a mixed response; some cried that Kazuna be taken off the council, others that he was the leader after all.  
"Silence!" the sarcastic voice called. "I am the most senior of the elders. As such, I hereby invoke a state of crisis, as is my right."  
This Kazuna could not allow.  
"Never!" he bellowed. "You have to have support from at least four of the eldest to do that! You won't rule for as long as I am here!"  
"Oh, really?" The sarcastic voice replied, its tone dripping venom. "Tell me friends, do I have support?"  
A roar of approval could be heard. It would have been deafening, if they weren't all so old.  
"I suppose, then, that I am in charge?" the voice said. "Why yes, I AM in charge. Kazuna, consider yourself relieved of your position as council member." he continued.  
As Kazuna walked away, he could hear his nemesis say:  
"Now, we will be taking steps to make good on my nephew..."

A week or so later, Byakuya was laying on the bed he and Rangiku had come to share, in her quarters, thinking of what had happened. He had been bitter towards his family before, but the attempted assassination really had him standing at the border of hatred. Before, his idea of revenge had been ridiculing and outdoing the Kuchiki, but now... he seriously considered asking Yamamoto to help him massacre the elders. Of course, 'massacre' was not was he was going to say, but that's what it would lead to.

As he lay there musing, there came a knock on the door. At first, he ignored it, but when it persisted, he finally said:  
"Enter."  
At first he thought that one of his blood-splattered fantasies had become real, that Fate or Providence had rewarded him. Because through the door stepped one of the most senior elder- his uncle. He reached for his sword, and with a mental command, a thousand pink petals surrounded the elder.

"You have two minutes before I kill you. Speak." he said. He meant every word. He could get away with it, easily.  
"I have seized control of the elder council." his uncle replied, unfazed. "And I came to personally offer you my, and the family's apologies." He proceeded to speak of how it was not his fault, how he had tried to stop them, how they wouldn't listen.  
Byakuya soon lost interest  
"Did you come here to beg my forgiveness like a dog?" he bit back harshly, interrupting his uncle. "Because I will not grant it. Now, you bore me. Die."  
Slowly, Senbonzakura drew ever nearer, until one blade scratched the skin of the old man.  
"Wait!" he exclaimed, showing fear at last.  
"Why?"  
"Because I came here as the official representative of the house. We want you back. We will give you everything back!"  
"You lie." Byakuya said, but he felt a string of doubt unravel.  
"I don't. Ask them all. I speak for them." The blade petals fell back, until they had once again become sealed.  
"If you don't believe me, then look at this!" the old man commanded, showing him a letter.  
"Dearest Kuchiki Byakuya-sama, it is our innermost wish that you return to leadership as soon as possible. We have erred greatly, and no apology can be sufficient. Know that we will offer you any kind of satisfaction you might request..."  
Byakuya read out loud, his voice trailing off.  
The letter did indeed carry the official Kuchiki seal, and was signed by almost every elder he knew of. They really wanted him back.

"I am not asking you to decide now" his uncle said "but five days from now, a meeting will be held. You are expected to attend, that you may give your answer."  
Wit that, he walked out. Byakuya stared out into empty space. He had not known shock like this since his disgrace. Could it really be? Could it be this easy? Was it some sort of trap?  
His shocked thoughts would have gone on, but they were interrupted as Rangiku came in.  
"What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked. "You look like you have seen a ghost."  
Without a word, he handed her the letter, and continued to stare at nothing.  
What was he to do?


	10. The final choice

Though a night spent in Rangiku's loving arms did much to calm the stormy sea of emotions that his heart had become, he still felt utterly drained when he woke up. As he lay beside her, holding her in his arms, he pondered the many possibilities as to just why they had decided to revoke their decision now. A single mind working towards de-throning him made sense, that much he could accept. He already had more than one suspect, though one name shone more clearly in his mind. Kazuna.

But he never would have managed something as politically earthshaking unless he had plenty of support.  
Unless, of course, he had bullied most of them into submission, but whether or not he did that was irrelevant. He felt immensely betrayed still by the council of elders, and Kazuna- assuming he did this- could never have gotten his way without several senior council members on his side. There had to be plenty of loyalists, too, though. His father had made many friends in his time, and he himself had always been a splendid leader. He thought of the last part not as some sort of self-aggrandizement, but a mere fact. Some were born with talent, some without. And in the time he had spent as common, his prejudices about noble versus common birth had been shaken, as he had seen the worst and most insidious behaviour from the grandest nobles of all, and fine examples of loyalty and kindness from 'commoners'. He reminded himself that Yamamoto Shigekuni-Genryuusai, the very pillar seireitei rested on, was technically not of high birth, as he outdated all the noble families.

One notion struck him like a hammer: Could it be a trap? He would not expect his uncle, who had always supported him, to betray him now. But then again, he reminded himself, no matter if you are a shinigami, a soul of this society or a living human- history was always littered with blood and treachery wherever civilization was found, and few places were more civilized than a noble court.

He made a mental note to, after reporting this to Yamamoto-sama, ask Soifon-taicho to interrogate the entire council. He smirked to himself, imagining all of the old geezers protesting as they were interrogated like mere criminals. They would protest, no doubt, but if they wanted him as desperately as his uncle had let on, they would agree. And if it was indeed a trap, then they still would have to agree to keep up appearances.  
He began to have some serious doubts that they were setting him up, though. Not only were their reputation in jeopardy as it was, but Yamamoto openly supported him. In the case of his death, there was enough evidence to bring down the Kuchiki in flames ten times worse than the Shiba. If he died, his 'family' would be blamed, and he was loved by the people now.  
According to the polls (which he had checked out of curiosity, not that he cared about how popular he was with the average Joe shinigami, not at all) he was the third most popular ever, after Unohana and Ukitake. The propaganda bureau sure was effective.  
Besides, he thought, what murderer would kill him? After the incident with little Mitsuko, he had thoroughly gone through every soldier available and unavailable to the seireitei with any connection to the Kuchiki whatsoever. The only person who could hope to kill him was someone with the strength of a captain, or worse. He recalled a conversation he had had with Soifon a few days earlier.

"Good day, Soifon-taicho." He greeted her.

"17th seat Byakuya." She said, nodding her head.

"I was wondering how the search for possible assassins is going?"

"Your cataloguing was quite thorough. We have made all sorts of check-ups and interrogations, and there is but a handful of potential murderers-to-be to be found. I should guess that the primary suspects would be desperate indeed to make a second attempt at your life, though." She carefully chose her words. Though they had the evidence, mostly in form of testimony from Raida Mitsuko, great care was taken not to accuse in any way the Kuchiki.

"Might I inquire as to the fate of my would-be killer from the Raida family?"  
Soifon shrugged.

"I might as well tell you. Yamamoto-sama wants you to be fully informed, anyway. We are keeping her in secret custody, where she will remain until we know for sure whether or not the suspects are to be accused."

"And when this blows over…?" Byakuya continued.

"Then I shall either silence her or put her under the authority of my third seat."

Death, or permanent incarceration. While the scars still ached sometimes, Byakuya could not help but feel sympathetic towards the girl.

"Is that necessary?" He asked. "Is there no way for her to redeem herself? You said yourself that she showed promise. It is always a shame to let talent go to waste."

"Have you gone sentimental?" She was frowning, now. "I might have expected that from Kyoraku-taicho, but from you? When you were a captain, I always admired your sense of professionalism. You certainly have changed. You used to be more ruthless."

"Please. Give her a second chance. Consider it a favour."

"Very well… I'll consider it. But I do not understand why you would do this for your would-be assassin."

"Mercy." Was the simple answer he gave.

As he lay there in his bed, he still wasn't sure if that had been a wise decision, but he let that thought go. No matter, she wouldn't be going after him again.  
When the time came, he thought, when he was supposed to face the elders, he might go in with his bankai all around him. Showy, impressive, and above all- safe. Still, there should be no trap. If they tried, they would be in deep shit. Deep shit. He laughed inwardly at the common, crude phrase he had picked up somewhere along the line. Half a year ago he wouldn't in his wildest dreams have thought that being common would suit him, Kuchiki Byakuya. Yet, he realized, that was exactly it- he actually liked where he was now, and he wasn't so sure that even the most exalted position in existence was worth stepping up on a pedestal and distancing himself from everyone else.  
He thought the things he could do now, that would be inappropriate for an exalted noble to do- like giving Rukia a bear hug, something he had really liked. No, this was an agonizing choice- the life he was born and bred for, which he was truly great at, or his own personal happiness. The mere thought of it almost sent him to a fit of panic.

Rangiku stirred. She, too, was absorbed in thought, though not to the same degree as Byakuya. Yes, Byakuya. Poor thing. She remembered when first she had seen him after his disgrace. Never had she seen such a defeated, broken man. But he had risen, taken charge of his life and turned the situation around. For this, she truly admired him. And now, those horrible nobles had to rip open an old wound, tear him apart all over again. Did they not realize how badly they had hurt him? He did not talk much of it, but she knew he was in pain because of this betrayal. Their betrayal. What would he do, then? She had no idea. He might become noble once again- and god help the entire house of Kuchiki if that happened, for she knew he could be vindictive- or he might not. She had been afraid he would leave her at once, like Gin had so many times, and go back to his perfect little noble life… but he hadn't. His life outside nobility must have been more satisfying than she thought. Inwardly, she groaned. Why did they have to go and do this?

A few hours later, after breakfast and some deep, deep thought, Byakuya decided that doing something would be better than sinking too deep into his own mind. So he rose, walked out of his and Rangiku's lodgings and headed towards Yamamoto's office. He would have to report this anyway. Well, the Secret Mobile Corps probably already knew, and by extension Yamamoto himself, but he would still be expected to seek the sotaicho's advice.

"Enter." The sotaicho's voice came, as he knocked on his door.

"Yamamoto-sama, I have dire news." Before he could continue, Yamamoto cut him off.

"You are referring to the offer made to you by the elders of clan Kuchiki, no?"  
So the SMC had been listening. Byakuya didn't act surprised, he didn't even comment, but continued as collected as possible.

"Yes, exactly. And what wonder is, why? Why now? What made them change their mind?"

"Let me provide you with the opinion of an observer without emotional bias, young Byakuya." Yamamoto replied. "You are, for a fact, the most brilliant leader the Kuchiki has ever seen. Your talent as a shinigami has not in their history been seen since the earliest days of Kuchiki. I remember that time well. And no-one mastered bankai earlier than you. Not to mention your leadership skills. You were the perfect leader for the most prestigious clan of all. But brilliance begets petty jealousy in the hearts of others, and your strong sense of loyalty, which has on occasion caused you to break the rules, has been used against you. A certain individual, who is our primary suspect, recently resigned the council. It does not take shinigami Sherlock to figure out what happened: This one person used and manipulated other council members, played their jealousy and twisted their opinions. He would not have succeeded, however, if it were not for the war. He inflated everybody's sense of pride and prestige and managed to either intimidate or otherwise convince just enough members to de-throne, an audacious thing to do."

This all made sense. Byakuya listened further, to see if he could somehow understand what had seemed impossible to understand.

"The whole affair reeks of opportunism. It was sloppy all the way through. Because of your solid position, the individual in question had to resort to god knows what kind of desperate measures. This is, of course, mere theory; but it is a most probable one." Yamamoto finished at last.  
Byakuya clenched his fists. He was sure this had to be how it happened. Yamamoto had said he was the best there was, and that was damn right. And this, this villain had had the nerve to deny him his birthright!

"Kazuna." He growled between his teeth.

"A qualified guess. We are not at all sure yet, and even if it is him, we cannot touch him without bringing the entire family down. Only you can punish him with any ease."

"What are your orders, Yamamoto-sama?" he asked, now agitated. Perhaps the sotaicho would make the decision for him; it would in many ways serve the political peace if he returned, and doing so on somebody's order would be easier.  
Yamamoto sighed.

"Normally, I would command you to take back what is yours, but considering your loyalty to me, and how much you have suffered at their hands, it is no more than right that you choose yourself."

"Yamamoto-sama?" Byakuya asked, surprised. "I thought you would expect me to return immediately, sir?"

"No." came the answer. "This is your life. You decide what turns it will take."

Incapable of thinking of any reason to stay, Byakuya turned and walked towards the door. Just as he stood by the door, though, he turned and addressed Yamamoto again.

"Sir, there is a favour I'd like to ask of you…"

Byakuya was once again walking the streets of the seireitei at random. He had tried sitting down to think about his situation, but sitting still made him feel like something ate him up from the inside. He wandered for hours, until he came upon the 6th division once again. Sensing a bunch of familiar reiatsu, he walked towards the training grounds and found there Rukia, Renji, Ichigo, and (surprisingly) Yoruichi. As they saw him, Renji and Ichigo stopped their sparring, and turned to look at him. The lot of them, except Yoruichi, looked sad, sympathetic and surprised at the same time. He really must look like hell, he thought. Then again, he had neglected shaving and eating for a while. He sat down next to a tree, keeping silent. He barely had finished sitting down when they all came over, asking what was wrong.

"So, what happened to you? Anyone else try to kill you or something?" Ichigo began.

"Oh, it's nothing." Byakuya said weakly. "I'm being torn to pieces from within, that's all."

And then, he found himself telling them everything. He knew he was violating at least fifteen rules of confidentiality, but at the moment he didn't care. Their reactions were mixed; Renji and Rukia looked plain shocked, Ichigo looked angry and Yoruichi just shook her head at what she heard.

"Sooo…" Ichigo began. "Let me get this straight. Your family first kicks you out, which I am to understand is completely unjustified-"

"Well, I wouldn't say…" Byakuya protested, meaning to defend them a little.

"And then they try to kill you."

"Well, yeah. We actually have solid evidence there is one person behind this, I shouldn't blame them all…" Byakuya said, not even buying that himself.

"Bullshit! You go tell them to go to hell, that's what you should do!" Ichigo insisted angrily. He had to say, there was a lot of appeal to that.

"Nii-sama!" Rukia cut in. "You should take care of the clan! If the elders, a few individuals, are responsible, then you should not hesitate to take back what's yours."

She made a valid point. However, he would only be satisfied if almost the entire council resigned, and that was no only unthinkable, it would also be a serious setback- their wisdom had always been valued. Besides, clan law made things quite clear- a council member was appointed for life, and only if everyone else in the council voted against an elder could he be forced to resign.

"Rukia is right, taicho." Renji this time, still addressing him with the title he did no longer wear. He supposed he would always be 'taicho' to him. Boy, was he in for a surprise.

"You should take charge of things, get back at 'em." Renji continued. "Make an example of that guy who did it, make sure they never do anything like it again."

Also a suggestion with some merit. Ruling through fear would be effective, and god knows he would put the fear of god in them if he returned. He was no murderer, though, and eventually he would be forced to kill someone outside the field of battle if he dedicated himself to politics in the manner necessary for a reign of iron.

He listened for the quarter of an hour to their words of advice and sympathy. He gratefully accepted them, opened up to receive comfort. 'I would miss this dearly' he thought to himself 'to enjoy the company of friends, people who care about you and respect you, people who you in turn respect and care about.' Yes, if he were to ascend to nobility, to shield himself from emotion, then companionship would be missed dearly.

"Thank you all." He said. "But I need to be alone now. Please return to whatever duties you have."

They did so, and left him alone. Well, all except Yoruichi.

"Yoruichi-san, I wanted to be left alone."

"So you said." She returned. "But I haven't had a say yet."

"Can I inquire as to why you are here of all places today, Shihoin Yoruichi?"

"I know the sweetest little bee, who just so happened to tell me something big was happening with the Kuchiki, including you."

He had no difficulty realizing who the 'little bee' was. It made him slightly annoyed. SMC commanders were supposed to keep secrets, not share them with anyone, even if that anyone is the centre of your personal universe.

"Soifon told you all about it, huh? And now you will give me some advice."

"Pretty much." She had a serious look on her face. "Why I left everything is my business. Perhaps you'll know one day. But I'll tell you, I loved nobility, almost as much as being the commander of the Secret Mobile Corps. I had it all, and like you I lost it all because of affection, and a sense of duty. I was an exile, and it felt awful. Now, here is where similarities end." She said with a little smile. "Because I didn't drink myself silly until someone punched me in the face and forced me to turn the situation around."

"Why, gosh golly, that's some great advice. Your point being?" Byakuya retorted, annoyed.

"My point is; things really sucked for a while, but things got better. And I learned to love life outside authority and nobility. If I were you, I would not take their offer. But then again, you are you, and I am me. Unlike me, you can have back everything you lost, but you should consider what you would lose if you went back."

"Like what?" Byakuya snapped. "Why couldn't I have at least some of the joys of common life even if I were a noble?"

"The humans have a saying. You can't have your cake and eat it, too."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You can't have it both ways. You are seeing Rangiku, right?"

"What of it?"

"What would the nobles say about that?"

"To hell with them!" He was angry, now.

"The best she could expect if you once again became clan head would be as a mistress, a plaything on the side of things. Do you not think a woman of her station could do better than that?"

"I've done it once, I can do it again!" He raged.

"So you did. And, pray tell, what did that do to your wife?"

This was cruel. She made a point better than anyone of the others had, but for him to relive those painful memories…

"She was mocked, ostracized." He said darkly. "Everyone but me looked down on her, she became more and more stressed until…"

"Until she could take no more of the cruelty of nobility, and fell ill." Yoruichi said. How she knew this, he didn't know. Nor did it matter.

"_You made your point! Any more old wounds you want to tear open while you're at it_?!"

He screamed, furious.

"No." came her simple reply.

"Leave me alone." He said, feeling more emotionally drained than before.  
And in a flash befitting her nickname, Shunshin Yoruichi was gone.

Couldn't he have friends if he once more became noble? No, only other nobles, and only the highest of highest would ever do. He knew the lot, either morons, arrogant, inbred, short-sighted, intolerably prejudiced… or all of the above at the same time.  
What was worse, Yoruichi was completely right. He could possibly marry Rangiku, and she was of stronger stuff than Hisana, but he could not bear to see every last short-sighted and jealous noblewoman look down on her. By the gods, if the finest noble lady of his house, or any one of the four great houses were summoned, Rangiku would still be ten times the woman she was.  
He resumed the agonizing wrestle of the mind that had occupied his thoughts, and after an hour or so, his back against the tree still, he fell asleep.

The days passed at an alarming pace, and even if every day felt like an aeon to him, the day of his choosing had come. That morning, he woke up with all the calm of a man ready to storm a fortified hill, the calm of a man ready to die. He knew it was foolish- no matter what happened, something good would come out of it, He said as much to his Ran-chan, who assured him it wasn't foolish to feel like that on the day when your fate (more or less) was decided.

His feet, feeling like they were carrying lead weights, carried him towards. He was all alone, and it was just as well. This, he had to do alone. Right before the doors of the Kuchiki mansion, he stopped and spoke:  
"Ban Kai."  
Thus, the guards who were expecting him saw him riding on the magnificent tide of pink that was Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. No expenses spared when it came to impressing everyone, let them all know who was in charge of the situation. Then, he stood before the council. It was fortunate the hall was as large as it was, or his bankai would not have fit.  
Shocked though they were, his uncle still stood up to declare the meeting opened.

"The meeting is hereby declared to be in session. Now, Byakuya-sama, would you-"

"No!" Byakuya commanded. "I will speak, and the council will speak when spoken to."  
His strong words resonated in the room, and the elders surely would have objected, had he not sounded as impressive as he did. Good thing the room had such an echo. The prospect of imminent death by Senbonzakura helped, of course.

"_You are my family_." He began. "My own flesh and blood, who I was born to lead and protect. While under my wing, you were glorious. Yet, you cast me out. And you didn't stop at that, you tried to murder me, too."  
At that, a storm of protests began; some claiming that it was preposterous, others that it was not their fault.

"_Silence_, or I kill you all where you stand!" He boomed. "Do not try to deny it, I have hard evidence. The question is, who is responsible?"

Once again the nobles stirred, but he silenced them with a gesture of his hand.

"I'll give you this" he said. "one chance to tell me, to my face who is responsible. I want him brought before me that I may face him."

"We guessed you might want him." His uncle now, the only man with the nerve to speak.

"It is Kuchiki Kazuna, until recently a senior member of the council."  
A door opened, revealing the form of the scheming old man. Slowly, he walked towards the centre of the chamber where Byakuya stood.

"Will you all swear he is the mastermind behind all this?" Byakuya asked, and was met with a storm of agreeing answers. They all sounded afraid, eager to lay the entire blame on Kazuna. Naturally, that was right, but it takes more than one to stage a coup-de-tat.  
Two blades formed at his command from Senbonzakura. He faced Kazuna, addressing him:

"Though withered by age you are, you still know the way of the sword, do you not?"

"I do." Kazuna replied, surprisingly calm.

"Very well then. Kuchiki Kazuna, You have offended my honour. You are no man; you are a coward without spine and guts, you are weak like a woman, and without honour." This was a formal, ancient insult, used only after the direst of offences to start a duel. Once said, neither of the two involved had any right to back down.

"You challenge me, an old man, to mortal combat?" Kazuna replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Exactly." Byakuya's voice was cold as ice.

"This is ludicrous! You are a trained shinigami, with bankai! It is not fair!"

"Was it fair for me to suffer like I did?" Byakuya retorted. "Payback's a bitch, isn't it?"  
A light seemed to dawn on Kazuna. "He's not noble." He insisted. "A man of my station need not respond to the barking insults of a commoner."

"Actually," Byakuya's uncle said "we explicitly stated that he could keep his name, and only a noble carries the name of Kuchiki."  
Byakuya grinned with glee.

"Take the sword, Kazuna. You have done me a terrible injury without ever showing your face to me. At least you can die like a man."  
Kazuna seemed to think desperately, but seized after a while one of the swords, which had been hovering beside him. He held it high, with the skill of a veteran, and charged.  
Seconds later, his head sailed through the air and landed on the floor with a dull 'thud'.

The council seemed shocked, and Byakuya had now their undivided attention.

"Now." He continued. "I shall announce my decision, and why. I have been thinking hard the last few days, harder than I ever had before, and I realize that nobility is naught but a cage. A cage of traditions, ancient customs, haughtiness, arrogance, prejudices… a cage I have no desire to crawl back into. You never knew it at the time, but when I was so cruelly banished, I was set free. And I want to be free. God knows I want to be free."  
He paused for a little while, giving them time to process the information.

"No!" one of them cried out. "You cannot leave us, Byakuya-sama! We need you!"

"Why shouldn't I?" he retorted, cold as ice.

"We were misled." Another insisted. "Kazuna, the villain, twisted our minds, threatened us… we didn't want to banish you."

"Shut up, you fool." Byakuya sneered. "You would never have managed to do it without plenty of support. I would never again trust any of you if I returned."

"Then do it for the rest of the clan." His uncle argued. "They deserve a good leader, not to suffer from our folly."

"A good point" Byakuya said "but common life is to my liking. The Kuchiki have always brought forth excellent leaders. Kanda-dono is not that bad a leader."

"Please, do not leave your clan in its hour of need." His uncle pleaded.

"It is my clan no more." Byakuya said. "I know this beautiful, common woman, whose name I might take if I marry her. How does Matsumoto Byakuya sound for a name?"

If the council had been shocked before, it was little compared to the looks on their faces now. In the shocked silence, Byakuya turned and walked out the door, ignoring the cries of protest.  
Just outside the chamber, someone waited.

"Good-day, cousin." Byakuya greeted.

"Should I bow to you, call you your highness?" Kanda replied, sounding bitter.

"Naah." Byakuya yawned. "But if I were you, I'd keep the elders on a short leash."

"You are not a noble, not a captain. What do you have now?" his cousin asked.

"I am the rokubantai fukutaicho." Byakuya said, smiling.

"Correct me if I am mistaken, but does sixth not already have a vice-captain?"

"Oh, Renji? I recommended him for captain to the Sotaicho. That way, I'll hold an important position without having to do most of the paperwork."

"You are a sly one, aren't you?"

Byakuya didn't answer, but walked on, towards the gates if the Kuchiki mansion, a place he would never return to. He felt a familiar reiatsu just outside.

"So?" Rangiku asked, sounding anxious.

Byakuya reached into his shihakusho, and produced a scarf.

"Do you see this?" he asked, and tossed it into the air, incinerating it with a kido blast.

"Nevermore."

He smiled, took Rangiku's hand, and walked towards whatever Destiny had in store for them.

Somewhere else, in a pocket dimension, in a Victorian house surrounded by a beautiful garden- all this in lovely shades of black and white- Death sat in his most comfortable chair, reading the book of fates. It had just changed, and was changing still.  
Mentally, Death commanded the book to view Byakuya. As he turned to the many pages about him, he saw the words still settling down. Fate was barely done.  
"ABRIDGE." Death commanded.  
Obediently, the pages shortened, until Death could read:  
Matsumoto Byakuya, born Kuchiki Byakuya. For decades the most brilliant leader the Kuchiki clan ever saw. After banishment, he loses his status as captain and noble, but returns after the Hueco Mundo war as a hero and becomes the 6th division vice-captain. Re-ascends to captaincy sixty years later. Dies another four hundred years later. Missed dearly by his sister, his four children and his loving wife.  
Content, Death closed the book. All was well.


End file.
